AI's Big Gift to Society Is … Pithy Summaries?

Successful leaders person known each on the information of specified shortcuts. That’s wherefore Jeff Bezos, erstwhile helium was CEO of Amazon, banned PowerPoint from his meetings. He famously demanded that his underlings nutrient a meticulous memo that came to beryllium known arsenic a “6-pager.” Writing the 6-pager forced managers to deliberation hard astir what they were proposing, with each connection captious to executing, oregon dooming, their pitch. The archetypal portion of a Bezos gathering is conducted successful soundlessness arsenic everyone turns each 6 pages of the document. No summarizing allowed!

To beryllium fair, I tin entertain a counterargument to my discomfort with summaries. With nary effort whatsoever, an LLM does work each page. So if you privation to spell beyond the summary, and you springiness it the due prompts, an LLM tin rapidly find the astir obscure facts. Maybe 1 time these models volition beryllium sufficiently skilled to really place and aboveground those gems, customized to what you’re looking for. If that happens, though, we’d beryllium adjacent much reliant connected them, and our ain abilities mightiness atrophy.

Long-term, summary mania mightiness pb to an erosion of penning itself. If you cognize that nary 1 volition beryllium speechmaking the existent substance of your emails, your documents, oregon your reports, wherefore fuss to instrumentality the clip to excavation up details that marque compelling reading, oregon trade the prose to amusement your wit? You whitethorn arsenic good outsource your penning to AI, which doesn’t caput astatine each if you inquire it to churn retired 100-page reports. No 1 volition complain, due to the fact that they’ll beryllium utilizing their ain AI to condense the study to a clump of slug points. If each that happens, the corporate enactment merchandise of a civilization volition person the prime of a third-generation Xerox.

As for Robert Caro, he’s years past his deadline connected the 5th measurement of his epic LBJ saga. If LLMs had been astir erstwhile helium began telling the president’s communicative astir 50 years ago—and helium had really utilized them and not turned truthful galore pages—the full rhythm astir apt would person been agelong completed. But not astir arsenic great.

Time Travel

Earlier this twelvemonth I had a speech with Sam Liang, the CEO of Otter. Once specializing successful consecutive transcription, the institution present offers a scope of meeting-based AI tools, including of people summarization—but besides edgier features, similar AI avatars that tin be your meetings and tally the discussion. In my Plain View essay connected the subject, I wondered whether this could decision the intent of meetings.

I inquire Liang whether the prominence of AI successful meetings mightiness marque humans little apt to attend. Knowing that determination volition beryllium a summary disposable seems a disincentive to really showing up. Liang himself says that helium attends lone a fraction of the meetings he’s invited to. “As CEO of a startup, I get tons of invitations to spell to meetings—oftentimes I'm treble booked oregon triple booked,” helium says. “With Otter, I tin look astatine my invitations and fertile them. I classify them based connected the content, the urgency, importance, and whether my beingness adds immoderate worth oregon not.” Since he’s the CEO, helium whitethorn find it easier to opt out. On the different hand, the boss’s beingness successful a gathering makes it much invaluable to those who privation clues to his reasoning oregon an instant yes connected a proposal.