AI surprising the world of AI
Stories and Scenes for the Humanaivolution
Good Scenes are surprises that happen in small spaces.
And last week a surprise rocked the world of AI.
It wasn’t “small” … but it happened in a small space — on your screen: the (very surprising) arrival of DeepSeek V3, a Chinese AI chatbot that has quickly become the most downloaded free app in the United States, surpassing its main competitor, ChatGPT.
Of surprise (and concern) to the industry, is how (allegedly) inexpensively this AI chatbot was created. A discovery that has sent big tech looking to their AI searching for answers. Quoting media source, The Information : Meta Scrambles After Chinese AI Equals Its Own, Upending Silicon Valley.
Don’t start the Humanaivolution without me
DeepSeek’s market shaking launch speaks to many of the same things Humanaivolution is proposing. (Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised?)
How so?
Last week, I wrote that “we humans need to start over.”
I went on to say, we are a decision-making, discovery-loving species. Two world building human traits that created AI. If we can create something as life-changing and impressive as that … then why can’t we “use that” to start over?
And by “use” I mean use the one thing AI gives us that we are not yet taking full advantage of — its presence.
Then along comes DeepSeek (whose tagline is “into the unknown”) … fresh from having analyzed AI’s gigantic presence.
How did an AI company use the presence of AI to build something (arguably) better and (apparently) far less expensive than its much larger competitors?
In Humanaivolution terms, the presence of AI inspired the decision-making, discovery-loving humans who run DeepSeek to look differently at the challenges of taking AI further in different ways.
Quoting from my last post:
The simple fact that [AI] is here and doing what it’s doing (a lot) should be enough for us to say, all right, what else can we do with it? Let’s surprise ourselves with some unique ideas.
And surprise themselves they did. Of course it all started with an impressive strategy — including the decision to “stockpile Nvidia chips” after a US-China chip ban was imposed. DeepSeek’s founder, Liang Wengfeng told local media that the chip ban was their “main challenge.”
Then there was the growing talk among some of the industry’s biggest personalities about the threat of AI “plateauing.” Plateaus are ripe for what-ifs. And there are fewer things a story-strategy likes more than a what-if to set the Scene for imaginations to run wild. (A strategy Disney is known to use at their content development meetings.)
I have not spoken to anyone from DeepSeek (but would love to), so my thoughts are well and truly just that — thoughts. And nor am I even remotely close to being a techie (though I did sell CD-ROM technology at Microsoft Singapore in the 90s – does that count? See proof in this 1995 talk show clip on YouTube.)
What I am is a human communications strategist and SceneThinker™ deeplyseeking ways for humans to be at our best in the AI age.
Much of my interest in this fascinating DeepSeek story is in how the Scenes unfolded.
And as we know: 1) the greatest stories always have the greatest Scenes and 2) the definition of storytelling is problem-solving.
DeepSeek looks to be solving some significant AI problems with its story — so much so, it sent global tech stocks spiraling after bursting a $600 billion gusher in Nvidia’s valuation. The biggest one-day loss in America’s stock market history.
In the rapid fire world of AI, if someone brings solutions, others react pledging their own: “OpenAI’s Sam Altman vows ‘better models’” — shouted a Financial Times headline.
What can humans learn from this?
The Humanaivolution — humans re-evolving with the presence of AI — calls for the discovery of new places for human communications to develop and expand. Last mile human communications creates that place (physical or not) that we can defend, replicate, and grow … an ending that has beginnings firmly in its sights.
And lest there be concerns about “defend.”
This is not a fight against enemies, but a search for allies — both human and AI. Two distinctly separate species, living and breathing their separate Scenes, that can co-exist under a mutual love of one thing: discovery.
Humans have forever been discovery junkies — give us more! And AI … as it scrapes and scrapes our Scenes … quickly learning (like lesson 1, day 1) that discovery is more than our secret sauce, it’s our most vital fuel. Discovering that discovery was everything to us, led AI (now digging deep into the places we can’t see) to shout: we want more too!
Humans were here before AI.
In the Humanaivolution that means something. What can we re-discover about ourselves that re-imagines our role in future generations? (Huge question, I know, one that comes up in conversations — particularly with parents raising children.)
DeepSeek has created new territory that — for now, anyway — appears vastly different from its AI competitors and comrades. In doing so, DeepSeek has established an AI last mile, a place that they will defend (seeking customers/clients/investors/allies) … and grow into next miles. DeepSeek land is a wide-open place and it’s ready to expand.
DeepSeek inspired takeaways:
The presence of something this enormous has the developers and creators of AI thinking about what else it can do.
Data centres needing close to a trillion dollars to expand and fund the next phase of AI’s growth is a pause for thought moment. Hmmm … let’s meet in the last mile and talk about that, shall we? First question: What else can we do … to start over?
This isn’t just a question for AI decision-makers and planners.
The Humanaivolution is all about asking “what else can we humans do to re-think our re-evolution under the presence of this growing AI?”
We need to create new places to communicate … to share, plan, strategize, imagine … and we’ve been trying to discover those places for a long time.
Some of those discoveries have worked out rather well … but we can do more.
In my inaugural Humanaivolution post , I explored ideas about the future of the town hall and the fireside chat. Tried and tested (and mostly trusted) places for humans to gather in a “relaxed environment” and hear from the leaders of the firm on “what’s next” (or perhaps “what-if”).
The town hall and its fireside chatty cousin represent (at least in spirit) last mile human communications for creating next mile communications.
So what about the (very popular) company offsite? Okay, we are going to which resort now?
The company offsite has been around since the company Christmas party (I’m guessing — but I’ve been to quite a few of both). Not a new place that offsite, but it’s an effective one with some encouraging outcomes. A gathering of executives at a place “more inspiring than our office” — paraphrasing what I’ve heard (including in a recent invitation to speak at an offsite).
Offsites are looked forward to for that very reason — they are “off” our usual “site.” The tone of discovery is set; a very relatable tone as it’s no different to how we think about and look forward to our holiday travel plans.
The offsite agenda typically goes something like this: review our past year/half year/quarter; strategize new ideas for what’s ahead; socialize and have some fun. Genuine human engagement for generating offsite human surprises. A living, breathing Scene — with plenty of company (and personal) value to be decided and discovered and extracted for future use. Serve your living, breathing Scenes … and good stories happen (offsite optional).
The offsite is a last mile for creating next miles
We want the humans in our company to be excited for what’s next. Human engineered development is created in the same way all stories are created — one Scene at a time. Once we’re away from “office distractions,” new decision-making and discoveries are often expected to be the result.
The last mile sets the tone of completion. Finish something, get it over the line, generate momentum and more success. A decade ago, I defined last mile communications as exactly that: a place to develop a strategy for bridging gaps between corporate strategy and customer decision-making. The last mile then and the last mile now are places of measurable human results. Completion with continuation.
In the Humanaivolution, the last mile doesn’t need an offsite
Every story depends on the Scenes we create. Story Access Motivates Participation (a rather handy acronym: STAMP). We know that a story’s value is found in its problem-solving — via the Scenes it has crafted and communicated.
Motivation to go further and participate depends on how emotionally connected we feel to those Scenes (and it only takes one Scene to start that emotional connection).
STAMP, like life I suppose, is a continues loop. The Scenes change but the processes of our existence stay relatively the same. Humans waking up, getting out of bed, moving from Scene to Scene throughout the day, interacting with other humans who also got out of bed to do the same.
Put your STAMP on the last mile. Ask the humans in your company to commit to that place. This is not an AI exercise. It’s a human exercise for human consumption.
DeepSeek is a human company discovering AI things (and human things too). They put their STAMP on it. They looked closely at the Scenes influencing, motivating, and challenging AI’s development, and they extracted new problem-solving from that.
Definitely a story we should all be watching.
The Humanaivolution certainly is.
And finally … a personal story that inspired me to think about the concept of last mile human communications well before AI turned up.
A story that surprised me.
The story of my Uncle Gert — honorary advisor to the Humanaivolution.
I met Uncle Gert most summers as a kid when we drove six hours to his father’s fabulous orchard. Acres of fruit trees … cherries, apples, peaches, pears, plums … a road trip I looked forward to — sometimes twice in the same summer. What I remember most about Uncle Gert was his laughter, curiosity, and love of conversation.
Then Uncle Gert went off grid.
He bought a (very) inexpensive plot of desolate, boulder-infested, steep Canadian mountain land from the provincial government next to a highway not far from his family orchard, and up he went to build a cabin on land deemed unbuildable.
Boulders piled high; in that terrain, how could he possibly do anything “residential”? And what about water and power?
Rumour has it, the land office said “good luck to you” as he left with a toothy grin and a title paid in full.
Here’s what he built. Uncle Gert’s cabin
Uncle Gert lived there for well over forty years until he met with what could only be described as a surreal end.
Now in his early-eighties, but still in reasonable health, he was outside tending to a garden when one of those many giant boulders he’d been living with behind his steep property barreled down the hill and up over top of him. Uncle Gert didn’t stand a chance. His hearing was failing so it’s unlikely he would have seen or heard it coming.
The last mile was Uncle Gert’s chosen existence and it was wide-open for him to create what he wanted to create — despite the immense challenges. The presence of something much larger than him (boulders, mountain, steep terrain … risk) got him thinking “what else can I do here to start over?”
So he cleared the space that needed clearing and voila! I have something better.
(I’m thinking DeepSeek must have scraped some knowledge and inspiration from Uncle Gert’s Scenes. If they didn’t … maybe they will now.)
News of his death saddened all who knew him. But as they say, if you’re gonna go, you hope it’s quick and in a way that “represents your life.”
Uncle Gert was all about decision-making and discovery. He went further to find more (a story theme we relate to). The presence of the boulders were central to his story — “what can I do with this presence that hasn’t yet been done?”; a looming challenge that lived right there next to him … piled high and not going away.
(The looming challenge of the chip problem to power AI? I’ll just put that there next to the presence of Uncle Gert’s boulders.)
Uncle Gert lived a life solving problems so he could live the way he wanted to … right until the very end … in his last mile.
Thanks for reading. Humanaivolution is an open source concept/idea/strategy that seeks partners and contributors.
What does the Humanaivolution look like to you?
I would love to hear from you. Send me some Scenes.
Happy Year of the Snake from Asia! May it be generous and kind to us all.
