Ask ChatGPT? AI can't replace power of a human mentor

Twenty years ago, as a very green account executive in my new job in Tallahassee I was invited to be on the WCTV show, "The Usual Suspects." I was told ahead of time I would be one of three guests, so I would only need to have 5 minutes of live TV worthy talking points ready to go.

I figured I could make that happen, however the other two guests canceled so my first media experience in Tallahassee was 30 minutes of live TV with me and the host. Thirty minutes of live TV is a tremendous amount of time. However, the host was and is Gary Yordon and he was a class act coaching me through my first, very long, live television experience.

Our company has filmed several regional media spots for local networks since that time, including a 5-year run on WTXL’s tech smart segment. Once a month at 6:30 a.m. I would head to the studio, and I would recall Gary’s earlier feedback before each show. Tips like, don’t tap your foot like a crazed person, look at the host, sit up straight, stay conversational etc.

I told this story at the Access Tallahassee (a program of the Tallahassee Chamber of Commerce) Leadership Summit last month. Former Access Chairs from Capital City Bank, Moore Bass, spoke on a panel at the event and topics included the importance of mentors in our careers.

Mentors are needed in every phase, 3rd graders to 1st graders mentorship might help you remember that Elmers is not edible. Seniors helping freshman in high school might coach the importance of SAT prep. Veterans in their careers can help job seekers or young professionals find the right job for the right person.

Three years ago, a friend texted me and told me to check the local news (Tallahassee.com) because I was in one of the headlines. The headline read, Blake Dowling is perfect, maybe too perfect, and I burst out laughing as I read Gary Yordan’s column, which opened with some jokes about artificial intelligence which included suggesting I was an AI (see the picture in this column).

In the three years since that column was published, AI has moved from a topic of conversation to part of everyday life — for better or worse. Hardware prices have skyrocketed, data centers powering the AI revolution are being built at a higher tick than weed shops.

It would seem that a few million American’s making CatFu videos (videos of cats doing KungFu) as well as using every AI under the sun from Gemini to Grok to Co-Pilot to ChatGPT to Claude has people concurrently cranking out productivity (and cat videos) at a rate never before seen in the history of humananity.

AI can help us with many things, but it will not replace human mentors in our lives. I never put a column through AI. I don’t want AI re-writing my thoughts, even when they are spewing out of control like Britney Spears on an LA freeway. When I get stuck writing a column, I send it to Gary for advice.

Just like TV coaching he gives me the facts, don’t bury the lead, the ending is random, the middle has nothing to do with anything and other helpful tips. The last one I sent him, he said it reads like a technical manual. I laughed at the feedback, and I also re-wrote it.

AI is the new shiny toy, and we are throwing common sense out the door in many cases to play with it. PocketOS, who makes software for rental car companies, had a digital apocalypse this year as its Claude powered AI called Cursor, decided it would delete their database. It cussed at them while deleting it.

Remember that story when you decide to plug an AI into your network without guardrails and proper vetting.

On the other side Joseph Cotes would be dead today without AI. He was told by his doctors he had a terminal illness called POEMS (blood disorder) and to prepare for hospice. His girlfriend contacted another doctor who suggested a radical treatment that was put together by an AI model, and it worked, no hospice, he is alive and well.

Gary at this point in coaching this column would say, what does this have to do with anything?

My point, AI is a great tool, but it will never replace human mentors. I really hope we all don’t forget the power of a mentor. That event I mentioned earlier was put on by Access Tallahassee and they also have a mentorship program each year for young professionals, pairing young professionals with those further along in their career (aka old, like me).

I participated this year and meeting and getting to know my protégé Aniyah Rodrigues was a highlight of the year. She is doing great work (congrats on the awesome grades!) as she wraps up her studies while holding a tech job and heads out into the global workforce to crush it.

I encourage anyone looking to be a business mentor to sign up or anyone needing one to look it up. Same for Leadership Tallahassee, it is a yearlong program to learn from others, a program full of mentorship. Same for Big Brothers Big Sisters providing mentorship for our youth.

AI is awesome, it is changing our world. I use Co-pilot every day to streamline tasks, but I keep the guard rails up when using it for cyber security reasons and I always remember to bounce things off humans. So should you. My thanks to Gary for the laughs and advice as my media mentor, thanks to all the people that take time to mentor others and thanks for reading today.

Also, if you have more questions, ask ChatGPT as we are out of time.

Blake Dowling is CEO of Aegis Biz Tech and the host of the Biz & Tech Podcast.