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The AI Collaboration Illusion

We keep saying we’re “collaborating” with AI… “partnering” with it… letting it “co-create” with us.

I can’t tell if we’re doing something truly new with technology… or is this just a shinier term for (or new way to say) what we’ve always done with tools and technology.
We’ve been “partnered” with computers, cameras, spreadsheets, Photoshop, drum machines, samplers for decades, in the sense that we can’t/don’t do that kind of work without it.

They help us create.
They automate parts of the process.
They respond to queries.
They create unique outputs.

But we never really used the word “partner” before.
We never say that “I partnered with my CRM to send out an email campaign.”

Why now?

Maybe it’s because AI “talks back”?
It feels like it’s giving us guidance.
It feels like it’s giving us more than a result.
Or is it because it’s producing something that looks more like an original idea than the sum of a calculation?

That changes how it feels… but is it really different than how we’ve worked with technology before?

I’ve been presenting the idea that we’ve moved away from The Attention Economy into The Intimacy Economy when I speak about these new tech shifts in my recent keynotes.
It’s this idea that AI “feels” like it’s speaking and creating uniquely for us (as an individual and with an unique result).
It even feigns intimacy in how it “types” out the response and uses the “…” to demonstrate how it’s “thinking.”

If we call AI a collaborator… our partner in a process, does that subtly change how we trust it?

Or how much credit we give it?
Or is this just human nature (anthropomorphism)?
Or is it just another evolution…
Meaning does it matter if I write something or guide something to say it how I want it to be said (for more on this: Welcome To Vibe Content).

And if this is just semantics, why does the language matter so much… and why is it really irritating so many to say that this new tech is a collaborator?

I can’t put my finger on it yet… but I do think the words we use to frame this moment will shape how we build with AI, and how society responds to it.

This was debated and discussed over on LinkedIn and the perspectives were diverse.

To some AI is just a tool.
To some we should never pretend that AI works/outputs like a human (we partner/collaborate with humans only).
To some this is a new way to work and we are collaborating with it.
Tom Asaker framed it in a way that I am still chewing on: “Tools change the way you work. Partners change the way you think.”

Maybe the challenge is in how much one works with AI… and their level of sophistication in relation to the work?
My experience (based on Tom’s response) is that there have are multiple instances (multiple times a day), when I get outputs that both change the way I think and add clarity to the work I am doing.

What do you think? Is AI a partner… is it crazy to call it that… or just the next tool in the box?

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Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.