Hello, all! I admit this post is brought to you by a less than organized self, but I am determined to get this episode/entry across the finish line. If you’ve been following along with my book club journey through Ethan Mollick’s Co-Intelligence: Living and Working with AI, welcome to our final chapter: Chapter 9: AI as Our Future.

I have to admit, tenacity is not my working genius. If you’ve been around for my “Six Types of Working Genius” series, you know this about me! So it’s a minor miracle (and a testament to progress over perfection) that I’m writing this from my hotel, the morning after a late night of Full Stack Facilitator fun and deep-dive conversations.

But here I write, committed to consistency and wrapping things up and reflect on what Mollick sketches out as the four big scenarios for how AI might unfold in the coming years.

The Four Possibilities for AI’s Future

Mollick breaks it down like this:

* As Good As It GetsMaybe what we have today, incredible as it is, is pretty much it. Maybe this is as good as AI will get with only small tweaks and improvements from here. this would be likely to exist if we are not able to overcome technical barriers, expensive scaling, and any new legal and regulatory walls. But, honestly, can you imagine AI not leaping forward for at least a few more rounds? I can’t.

* Slow GrowthIn this scenario, AI keeps getting better, but more slowly. Think 10% improvements vs. the 10X revolutions (and almost dizzying) growth we’ve experience. Again, some of the reasons for slow growth would be the reasons in scenario one such as technical barriers, cost and legal/regulatory walls.

* Exponential GrowthThis is where it gets exhilarating (or terrifying, depending on your mood). Mollick says that this growth invokes the “flywheel effect.” This means “incremental progress and persistent effort build momentum over time, eventually leading to self-reinforcing growth that becomes easier and more powerful with each cycle.” In this scenario, it’s hypothesized that AI will help to create more advanced AI, compounding gains, and speeding up improvement. The “self-accelerating” loop makes things powerful, fast.

* Machine God / AGI ScenarioThis is where we cross into science fiction (Matrix or Black Mirror, anyone?). AI becomes “Artificial General Intelligence” and potentially matching human intellect and creativity with some sentience. This doesn’t necessarily mean humans are in a distopian world. Mollick says that it could lead approach a utopia, where humans are empowered and liberated. My personal opinion is that I am terrified that humans consume more than create these days. I worry that this utopia for some would be my personal hell! Does anyone remember the obese humans on the space cruise ship in WALL-E? (Personally, I’d like to avoid becoming a lounge-chair human sipping endless sodas while AI does everything.)

So, What Do We Make of All This?

My personal take? There’s a lot to consider, and a lot still up in the air. I feel the “AI fatigue” and skepticism setting in, constantly second-guessing whether what I’m seeing or reading was generated by a fellow human or a silicon intelligence. But even if the future feels uncertain (and a bit sci-fi), it’s clear that staying curious, creative, and connected to our own learning journeys is more valuable than ever.

Well, that’s all for Co-Intelligence. I am glad we had this learning journey together. I’ll be taking a quick regroup—and then I’ll be back with our next book: Everything is Figureoutable by Marie Forleo. Stay tuned for more reflections, misadventures, and book-club-fueled creativity.

And if you enjoyed this series, I’d love to hear from you! Drop a comment or message me. We’re all figuring this out together.

Here’s to progress, over perfection, always. Also, keep investing in yourself! Listen to my mom! (see video below).

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