Okay, I’ll rephrase that for a better understanding: This is how it was to be – with the Information Age and its rivers and streams emptying into a larger ocean of human consciousness, the day was not far when the laws of evolution and natural selection once deployed in the digital plane would usher in the AI age.

We had no choice. It was almost pre-mediated. I mean, what else but build intelligent tools to make sense of the fathomless data just as the calculator became the need of the hour when the numbers added up, grew immense? And once we had rubbed the lamp and Aladin smoked out seeking our command to deep-dive into the ocean and salvage our requirements, it was a given that soon, we shall take a further step. Gradually, we would be outsourcing our skills and requirements to these non-human entities. Make them do things we once did ourselves. And the day isn’t far when we shall be at yet another crossroad staring at the inevitable. That of a few amongst us able to extract the best out of AI while others just not being there, unable to make sense of the world that is.

Better still, unable to make best use of it. Meaning: while the AI age is here to help humanity take one giant leap, a majority of us shall be left staring at the lamp, unable to extract the best out of Aladin.

And why? Because we would not be able to frame the right question. Questions, yes, you read that right, questions. Or perhaps, I should have started differently, focus not as much on ‘questions’ as on ‘instructions.’ After all, that’s where the game is being played as AI-tech companies increasingly serve us with more and more powerful form of Intelligence – premium class, subscriber-based entities to fulfil our professional needs. Ones that are capable of writing programs, debugging them, supervise processes, create and manipulate images, speak, write mails, answer calls, read the weather better, sharpen forecasts and replace a general sense of inefficaciousness with brute efficiency in every business sphere, changing the way we interact with one another and the world, in the process enabling evolution take one giant leap every day.

All this was bound to happen as computers came to life and the internet externalised our neural connections. And the larger majority – the masses, the singular unified thrust and force that make for the majoritarian world now has by the palm of its hands a plethora of AI tools to swim through the ocean of information and get answers in a jiffy.

And how?

Let’s settle on a form of common enquiry, the everyday stuff, that, as the days roll by and ordinary intelligence starts showing its face across computers and mobile screens, will be even more common in its occurrence –

“XX, is YY brand of shoes worth investing in?”

Or, maybe, we’ll focus on something even more precise, more specific – “XX, how does ZZ brand of shoes fare in terms of durability?”

There would even be those who seek more complex answers – “XX, analyse for me between YY and ZZ which is a better shoe in terms of comfort and durability?”

Three different ways of getting to the point. Although we may well argue that it was each preliminary query that led us to our next search, thus changing the very nature of our enquiries, each question elevating the pitch further owing to the way the words are arranged. From querying if it is ‘worth investing’ in Object Y, to how Object Z fares in terms of a specific product characteristic based on reportage and reviews to a direct data based analysis, and with XX now given a responsibility to reach a verdict, it won’t take any modern day Nostradumus to predict that the moment isn’t far when the substance of our asking will be directly proportional to the acuteness of the answers we receive.

Here is another form of asking, direct, yet general – “XX, is it going to rain today?”

Or we may turn the screws further, make it more precise – “XX, what time will it rain today?”

Or perhaps, someone, somewhere will demand even more, seek specifics – “XX, what’s the best time you think I can step out for a walk out in the park today?”

For the general populace, as well as for professionals, it’s questions (or the nature of our asking) that shall dominate our interaction with search-based AI-systems. Beginning from enquiring about a place of visit, how to get there, costs, place of stay, place to dine in and seek entertainment, the questions posed, the very quality of them will determine how best information is extracted.

In other words, whether it be ‘instructions’ or any ‘need-based query,’ it is good old ‘words’ that will come to provide more meaning to the way we make sense of the world we live in. It is ‘words’ that shall mark the precision of our query, give shape and determine responses. ‘Words’, humble ‘words’, the very nature and meaning they are associated with, will therefore take super-giant strides to help the majority wade through the waters and not sink in a garbage of data sets.

Which brings us to the next part of this article –

Words, and the articulation of intent:

There is no doubt – as AI models grow in terms of their ability to solve complexities, ‘words’ are bound to become the primary driver of AI performance. The ability to clearly articulate intent will be the catchword of HR departments across organizations hoping to enhance quality, accuracy and relevance of output. Context and role definition, precision using code words and constraints on length, tone and format to reduce AI rambles, iterative refinement, deploying techniques to ensure complex reasoning will in many ways prompt users to clarify their own thinking. The ‘Word’ and the right deployment of each, the correct and the most appropriate one will ensure AI doesn’t mirror confusion, but instead delivers high quality, actionable preferences.

Once again, let’s take these two approaches as an example –

“XX, provide me with a detailed analysis on Padel Sports in Spain.”

And this –

“XX, act as a senior data analyst to provide me with a detailed overview of Padel Sports in Spain.”

In each of the above instances, it is words that determines what role the AI-system is set to play. While the former is geared to receive more of a generic answer, the latter steers it away towards providing a more tailored, expert-level insight since its character is carving out in a more precise way. This is how words shall open doors to treasure caves. Words, or the very nature of words shall amplify their presence and steer our understanding of the knowledge base with more surety and precision rather than have any AI-system exhibit imperfect reasoning. The precision of each word used in situational circumstances will come to determine how an Intelligent tool shall perform in a given landscape.

Words, therefore, will no longer be mere tools of communication in the AI age. It will be its chief currency.

Words will be the key to open specific worlds and our ability to deploy the right word in a given situation is what will determine results, distinguish failure from success.

And this brings us to the most pertinent point –

Words, and being a master in word-usage will determine success

The arts are dead.

At least this seems to be the verdict if college admission profiles are investigated over the course of the last few decades.

We are increasingly entering the Machine-phase of things. Or, to put it in another way: ‘Arts’ or the way we understand that discipline is more or less a done-phenomenon, relegated to either dusty old back-rooms as heritage, or made to occupy a glitzy, paint- brushed arena called ‘entertainment.’ In such a scenario, that to read is chiefly about operationalising an effective antidote to our ADHD-ailing brains, but – where is the time?

Where is the inclination to squeeze the nectar out of large-form-texts? For the Age of AI is also an Age of Summary. We live on a diet of squeezed out, small, single-lined theme of things. It is rather we get to the point, and fast, or be prepared to be bored as an audience.

In other words: get to the point or be prepared to drown in an information-tsunami.

And perhaps it’s no coincidence, that to get to the point even if it comes at the cost of sacrificing long drawn narratives in the altar of disinterest, it’s a little indulgence in arts that shall save the day.

Stunned?

I’ll explain.

It is no secret that most LLM’s or Large Language Models, while their intellectual building blocks are Logic Systems, the blood in their veins, that which enables them to act, or respond, is literature – fiction, poetry, drama, and non-fiction – that uses language to record and externalise human experience within an aesthetic frame. LLM’s are trained on vast datasets that includes substantial amounts of published literary texts, internet content, scientific papers and other human-written materials. The literary or semi-literary canon allows them to learn language patterns, authorial styles and structure, and shape their own response system. The smaller AI tools, or Small Language Models (SLMs) or specialized AI agents, on the other hand, are heavily dependent on LLMs for their foundational knowledge, for their reasoning abilities and development. In other words, it is literature, better still, it is the ‘Arts’ that gives the AI its substance. And therefore, in order to get the best out of them, we must embrace what we and our children are shying away from, what we disdainfully call The Arts, what else.

As such, to get the best out of the AI age, each and every one of us shall stand to gain if we enrich ourselves with literature – novels, short stories, reportage or memoirs. The enrichment of our vocabulary, sharpening of our language will in the end shape our communication, make them precise and to-the-point. And the day isn’t far when HR departments and organizations will need to revive the lost institution of library, when homes of every professional will be lined by bookshelves with books in them, books that enhances the beauty and structure of language, because – make no mistake – it is the man with a thing for words that shall gain more in terms of professional rewards than the one without it, or limited in its usage.

In other words, if words are what constitutes the DNA of AI-systems, then it is words what shall show humanity the way to extract the best out of them. A well-drawn-out phrase or query will be like the perfect deep-sea trawler to rally the waters, pull in the best catch for itself. Hail therefore the entry of the professional adept in the mystery of words, the one who is a master of language. For he’s the Lord of the Rings that others will need to reckon with. The secret to make the best out of the AI-age is therefore (enter our last section) –

The Wordsmith

Enter the master shepherd of the twenty-first century in possession of all the keys to unravel the goldmine, have AI play as per his whims. Mind you, it isn’t about using ‘big words’ of the kinds no one has heard about. Rather, it’s the ability to use precise, context-specific, and descriptive language that shall align with the AI’s early childhood and reduce ambiguity, improve accurate results and speak of the smartness invested. Such an individual with abilities to whip up the right, or the most appropriate prompts, the one specific noun that others hadn’t thought of, the correct verb, a domain specific terminology rather than cheap democratisation of the language will fetch big attention, garner maximum wealth.

For example, the usage of ‘commodity-trading’ and not ‘stock market’ will fetch allotted responses. ‘Migraine’ and not simply ‘headache’ will whip up the correct treatment. ‘Market analysis’ and not ‘Market study,’ ‘authentic’ and not ‘in general’, ‘format’ and not ‘clean-up’ will deliver better results and such an individual with a way with words will emerge as the most sought- after horse rider if AI-tools are the tool to reckon with in the twenty-first century.

And it won’t come naturally.

Building one’s vocabulary, the ability to shape language in order to wade the digital consciousness is directly tied to that almost-lost-skill – reading. And therefore, books must do better than end up as antique pieces with a home in the museum. Companies will need to invest in it. Schools and universities will have to impress upon children the virtues of AI and how words and language will play a decisive role to manipulate the AI breathing and peeking from the phone screen.

The Arts are bound for a revival, a return accompanied with all the bells and whistles.

It’s a matter of time before the reader amongst us carves a better professional future for himself compared to one that does not find reading fun, not worth indulging in.

No, books are not an indulgence in the modern age. They are a necessary skillset to enhance our riding experience, help us take a fearless journey through a jungle that is the AI-age. In the end, therefore, ‘Bonne lecture’ as they say in French. Or ‘Happy reading’. For the future belongs to none other than the Wordsmiths. And ‘words’, simple ‘words’ are the next Big Essential Things.

They are the best ‘BET’ you can make.