Offloading is when someone (or something i.e. AI) does the work that you know how to do yourself, but you would rather save the time you would have on the task on something else. You know how to course-correct an action, input and output. You know right from wrong. What makes sense from what makes no sense.
Outsourcing is when someone (or something) does work you don’t know how to do yourself. When you get a result, you don’t know if it’s a good or bad result. You have no idea the implications of that result. Everything seems to make sense.
When you’re new to a space or young in your career, and you have no prior relevant experience and context to rely on, you should avoid outsourcing at all costs. In other words, AI is quite detrimental as it stands now to help you become an expert. It will be world-class at helping you become mediocre.
The first time I read a term sheet having no other reference point, everything made sense to me. The first time I read an LPA, the same was true. The first time I read the clause “the general partner should spend a reasonable amount of time on the fund”, it seemed to check out. Only later did I realize that reasonable is not the same as significant or majority. Hell, even now, I know nothing about drug discovery. And AI for drug discovery made sense to me when I first heard it, but it wasn’t till I asked my friends in biotech did I realize there were many more limitations than I expected. The list goes on. Since there are a lot of things I know nothing about.
You should spend all your calories, time, attention, energy, resources, favors on getting guidance from more experienced professionals who have know-how that do not exist in the public domain. That LLMs have yet to get access to train on.
Wisdom cannot be outsourced to AI, podcasts, articles, tweets, social media, public panels and fireside chats, and arguably any medium where there is an audience that has no reason to withhold any secrets.
Photo by Medienstürmer on Unsplash
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The views expressed on this blogpost are for informational purposes only. None of the views expressed herein constitute legal, investment, business, or tax advice. Any allusions or references to funds or companies are for illustrative purposes only, and should not be relied upon as investment recommendations. Consult a professional investment advisor prior to making any investment decisions.