Is AI Making You Less Intelligent? Tom Wheelwright & Jay Conger Explain

The Allure and Danger of AI [00:00:00]

• Discussions about AI oscillate between existential threat and ultimate salvation.
• The core question is why humans are so readily persuaded to rely on AI, potentially sacrificing their humanity.
• Jay Conger, author of "The Persuasive Leader," joins the show to explore this phenomenon.

  "why are we so easily persuaded to use ai and rely on ai when it's machine and give up our humanity to a machine that could kill us"

Jay Conger's Background in Persuasion [00:01:15]

• Conger's career began in international marketing for a solar cell company.
• He transitioned to teaching leadership, viewing persuasion as the "ignition switch" for effective leadership.
• His research revealed that constructive persuasion was a neglected but powerful tool for driving change.

  "persuasion was the ignition switch to leading because so much of leadership is about helping people move into the future"

The Efficiency Trap of AI [00:04:10]

• People are becoming increasingly reliant on AI for answers, despite AI being an aggregation of existing knowledge, not true intelligence.
• AI's ability to provide answers quickly makes it appealing to busy managers, creating an "efficiency trap."
• This reliance risks outsourcing critical thinking, akin to outsourcing manufacturing and losing the ability to produce cars.

  "the average manager the average boss of a business they're racing throughout their day literally one one thing after the other and suddenly this tool appears that says look what would normally take you an hour i will do for you in one to two minutes"

AI's Algorithmic Persuasion [00:05:20]

• AI is persuaded to give users what it thinks they want, similar to social media news feeds.
• This tendency to "please" users can lead to biased or incorrect information if not properly prompted.
• The efficiency offered by AI is persuasive, but its effectiveness in providing correct answers is questionable.

  "it has kind of an underlying as i understand it um algorithm to please you and so it's going to figure out what you want and it's going to bring those to you"

The Erosion of Critical Thinking [00:06:30]

• Conger worries that AI removes the need for critical thinking and rewards laziness.
• Students, in particular, may fail to develop critical analysis skills if they outsource this work to AI.
• The analogy of a personal trainer is used: AI is a tool to guide, but the user must do the work.

  "it's removing some of our ability to be critical thinkers it's kind of rewarding us to be a bit lazy uh in terms of thinking through an issue"

The Limits of AI and Human Expertise [00:09:00]

• AI's answers are only as good as the questions asked, highlighting the need for human discernment.
• Professionals with decades of experience can still get incorrect answers from AI if they don't know how to prompt it correctly.
• AI's "artificial" nature means it's a fake intelligence, a great aggregator, but requires human discernment.

  "my client uses it they're going to get the wrong answer 95 of the time because i'm at i know how to ask the right questions because i built that those muscles those critical thinking muscles over 45 years"

Understanding the Three Categories of Persuasion [00:11:50]

• Persuasion is often misunderstood, having both positive and negative connotations.
• Conger categorizes persuasion into manipulative, transactional, and leadership forms.
• Manipulative persuasion involves deception, lies, and fabricated urgency.

  "persuasion is fine as long as it's used for good but persuasion comes really malevolent when it's when it's used for a uh a nefarious purpose of some sort"

Manipulative vs. Leadership Persuasion [00:13:00]

• Manipulative persuasion (e.g., used car salesmen) often involves leaving out information, using lies, and creating false scarcity or guilt.
• Transactional persuasion is straightforward selling based on benefits and evidence.
• Leadership persuasion is relational, collaborative, and dialogue-driven, aiming to move people toward a shared future.

  "the manipulative form which you highlighted i i teasingly call it the used car salesman approach"

Karen's Persuasion of Bill Gates [00:17:30]

• Karen, an HR professional at Microsoft, aimed to make the Office suite more user-friendly.
• She built relationships, gathered focus group data, and involved top designers to persuade Bill Gates.
• Her success demonstrated that persuasion in leadership is about dialogue and collaboration, not just authority.

  "she set upon herself to persuade bill gates to make the interface user friendly"

Persuasion in a Remote Work Environment [00:22:00]

• Persuading employees in a remote setting requires understanding their higher expectations for work-life balance.
• An example is persuading staff to work extra hours during tax season by framing it as a collaborative problem-solving effort.
• This involves discussing the demands, brainstorming ideas together, and identifying necessary support.

  "you would begin with the problem so you would frame it around you've got an april 15th deadline"

The Art of Asking Good Questions [00:25:30]

• Effective persuasion is the art of asking good questions and engaging with the answers.
• Curiosity and listening are fundamental skills for real persuasion.
• AI requires clear prompts, similar to how humans need to ask good questions.

  "it is it is the art of asking good questions but also then engaging around the answers"

Building Leadership Persuasion Muscles [00:27:00]

• Key skills include asking open-ended questions and practicing active listening (90% listening, 10% talking).
• Change agents identify problems, build coalitions, and engage gatekeepers and implementers.
• Real persuasion is a process, not an event, requiring a coalition of support.

  "persuasion is 90 listening and 10 talking"

The Meditech Case Study: Coalition Building [00:29:30]

• Christie, Chief People Officer at Meditech, failed to gain support for restructuring because she excluded business line directors.
• This highlights the importance of building a coalition with all stakeholders, not just top executives.
• A significant percentage of change initiatives fail due to lack of buy-in.

  "she had forgotten to include the 14 business line directors in her persuasion and they were very happy with the way things were running"

Credibility and AI's Limitations [00:32:00]

• Credibility in persuasion is built on expertise, relationship depth, and history of judgments.
• AI can provide expertise but cannot build relationships, which are crucial for trust.
• AI cannot build coalitions or perform the front-end activities essential for persuasion.

  "ai can help you because it's an expertise source of credibility provided as you pointed out you're able to understand its expertise and critique it but it cannot build relationships for you"

Discerning and Practicing Persuasion [00:37:00]

• To avoid being persuaded to do something foolish, listen for overly enthusiastic tones, exaggerated claims, and what's being left out.
• Be wary of persuasion that relies heavily on emotions (fear, anger, FOMO) over evidence.
• To be a better persuader, understand your audience, frame problems powerfully, and provide vivid evidence.

  "the more they tend to use emotions over evidence the more worrisome it is"

Framing and Evidence in Persuasion [00:40:00]

• An example of Darcy, a soccer team captain, successfully persuading an administrator to fix the field by framing it as a risk management issue.
• He presented evidence of player injuries and the field's disrepair, leading to swift action.
• Effective persuasion involves speaking to what people value and their identity.

  "you need to frame this as a liability to the campus and can you get evidence of player injuries"

Final Thoughts and Book Promotion [00:44:00]

• Conger encourages listeners to resist harmful persuasion and use constructive persuasion effectively.
• He promotes his book, "The Persuasive Leader."
• The Wealthability Show emphasizes building wealth through smart financial and persuasive strategies.

  "when you do and you are able both to resist persuasion that you need to resist and then use persuasion in the right way when you can you'll always make way more money and pay way less tax"