324. Rethinks: Defining Where We Want AI To Take Us
Think Fast Talk Smart: Communication Techniques
In this Rethinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, Stanford professor Russ Altman discusses how AI is transforming communication, emphasizi
Key takeaways
- AI is not a threat to human communication but a mirror exposing flaws in clarity, authenticity, and intent.
- Effective communication requires knowing your audience, defining your core message, and structuring ideas with clear 'before-and-after' narratives.
Main topics
- AI as a tool to enhance human communication
- Authenticity and purpose in messaging
Notable quotes
"If you're worried that a ChatGPT type tool can replace you, you need to ask: Why am I communicating? What am I trying to say? Am I being authentic?"
"You seem to be leaning on prior accomplishments too heavily." – AI feedback that helped refine a grant proposal.
Conclusion
AI doesn't replace human communication—it elevates it by forcing us to clarify our
Transcript preview
Speaker 2 (0:00) Hi, Matt here. To make sure you never miss an episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, follow or subscribe wherever you listen or watch our show. Please consider sharing it with your friends, family, and coworkers. Finally, consider giving us a five-star rating and positive review. This helps more people find our show. Now a word from our sponsors. Their support covers the cost of production, allowing us to bring you this episode free of charge. Running a small business means every hire matters. A bad hire can cost you time, money, and momentum. A good hire? They can help grow your business. But finding great talent isn't easy, especially when you don't have the time or resources to sift through piles of resumes to find the right fit. That's why LinkedIn built HiringPro, your new hiring partner that screens candidates for you. At Think Fast, Talk Smart, we are super busy and move super fast. If we make a mistake in hiring, it has huge costs. And when we land a good hire, we can accelerate all that we do. With HiringPro, you can hire with confidence, knowing you're getting the best talent for your needs. In fact, those hiring with LinkedIn are 24 % less likely to need to reopen a role within 12 months compared to other leading competitors. Join the 2.7 million small businesses using LinkedIn to hire. Get started by posting your job for free. at linkedin.com slash fast. Terms and conditions apply. AI is changing how we work, think, and communicate. As these tools become more capable, knowing how to use them effectively matters more than ever. I'm Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to this Rethinks episode of Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. We're opening up the vault to revisit my conversation with Stanford professor Russ Altman. Listen in as we explore how AI can help us communicate more clearly, sharpen our thinking, and solve problems more effectively, while reminding us why human judgment, curiosity, Speaker 1 (2:05) and connection remain essential. Speaker 2 (2:09) Connection and the ability to explain where we are and where we need to go is critical for success in communication. My name is Matt Abrahams, and I teach strategic communication at Stanford Graduate School of Business. Welcome to Think Fast, Talk Smart, the podcast. Speaker 2 (2:31) Today, I'm excited to speak with Russ Altman. Russ is a professor of bioengineering at Stanford University. His primary research interests are in the application of AI and data science to problems relevant to medicine. Russ is also the host of Stanford Engineering's The Future of Everything podcast. Welcome, Russ. I'm a big fan of your podcast and really enjoyed the opportunity we had earlier today where I was a guest on your show. Speaker 1 (2:55) Thanks so much. Thanks for having me. share enthusiasm for this podcast, and it's kind of a thrill. I think it might be my first podcast as a guest, and it couldn't be a better one. Speaker 2 (3:05) Oh, well, thank you. And I'm excited for what we're about to do. You ready to get started? Yes. Excellent. Each of your podcast episode titles starts with the future of. So let me start by asking you for your thoughts on the future of communication, especially how AI plays out in it. Speaker 1 (3:22) So first of all, I'm glad you mentioned that I had you on my podcast because the answer is you told me the future of communication, but I actually thought about it before we chatted. I'm an AI enthusiast. I use AI in my research. I'm part of the Human-Centered AI Institute at Stanford. AI in general has exposed lots of things that were hidden in our society. So a lot of people hear about bias and unfairness, and that is a problem with AI. On the other hand, it was a problem before, and in some ways we need to give AI credit for exposing. the unfairness and giving us something that we can work on to try to improve. And the reason I mentioned this is I think for communication, in some ways, it's the same answer. If you're worried that a chat GPT type tool can replace you, I think you need to think about why am I communicating? What am I trying to say? Am I being authentic? Do I have a message? Because really, if those things are true, it shouldn't be a problem. It should actually just help you amplify and improve your message. So I think that we're at a time now where people have to ask hard questions about why they're communicating and how they communicate. And I think that the AI is bringing these issues to the fore that were kind of insidiously in the background. So you can see I'm an AI optimist and I think this will help. Speaker 2 (4:33) I also think AI can bring a lot of value to communication. And I really like your response that the thing to worry about is, do I have a clear goal? Do I know what is important to say? And how can I craft it in a way to be helpful? And I think AI can be an assistant in it. For example, I have many non-native speaking students. AI is a wonderful tool to help them learn. some of the vernacular and learn other options for ways of saying things. Speaker 1 (4:57) It is interesting how good it is when you say, please explain this at the level of an eighth grader or at the level of a high school student. And I think that's something we all can get better at because understanding who your audience is and then making sure you're delivering at the right level is always a challenge. And that seems to be one thing that it's kind of good at. Speaker 2 (5:15) Absolutely. And you can actually use it to flag jargon in terms that others might not understand. You mentioned that you happen to use it in your communication. Speaker 1 (5:22) Do you mind sharing some of the ways you use it? My favorite story, if I may, was I had written a grant proposal. And I ran the one-page summary of the grant through the large language model. And I said, please summarize the strengths and weaknesses of this summary of my research that I'm about to submit to the National Institutes of Health for research dollars. And it came back and it had a few, you know, pretty good positives and negatives. But my favorite negative is it said, you seem to be leaning on prior accomplishments too heavily. And it was absolutely right. So I've used it as like, as a pre-human screen before I go to my colleagues, even, even my trusted colleagues, let's just see what the LLM has to say. Maybe I'll fix it up and then give it to my buddy down the hall to take a look. Did it recommend you need to see some therapy about some narcissism or no, no, no, it didn't. That goes without statement, but if I had asked, I'm sure it would have added to the chorus. Speaker 2 (6:17) I want to pull this thread a little farther about grants. You have been incredibly successful at raising money for the projects that you do through the grants that you apply for. Many of our listeners have to write proposals asking for funding from their bosses or from external organizations. What guidance do Speaker 1 (6:32) you Speaker 2 (6:32) have when it comes to drafting proposals and grants? I am passionate about this. Speaker 1 (6:37) In general, the first thing you have to