Best Alternative to Navigating AI (BATN-AI)

A Practical Response in a World of AI Skepticism

People love to dunk on AI. I regularly get texts or emails with examples of where it falls short. Many times, this is from experts rightly pointing to areas where current technology can’t do XYZ specialized tasks (and a frustrating number also come from folks using older models or dreadful one-and-done techniques).

I get it. I go through it myself - it’s the 5 stages of AI Grief.  Shock, Denial, Frustration/Anger, Depression, Experimentation…round and round we go.

When I get into these conversations, my first inclination is to prove them wrong. To get AI to solve the thing. And while in many cases it could, I usually point people back to other, real-world examples of good that it can do. It’s the glimpse of opportunity that I want to show - not arguing over whether it can solve your use case (again, it probably can).

This shift from theory to practical application became clear to me when a friend reached out for help with their resume. They had worked their way up the ranks of retail, from entry-level into store management. After needing to step away for a bit, they were hungry to get back into the game - but didn’t know where to start. They had never built a resume.

I asked for a quick work history - roles, dates, general responsibilities. I got back photos from a spiral notebook with the bullet points scratched out. I took that, used ChatGPT to convert the images to workable text, then workable text to a formatted resume. I sent a polished resume back within 5 minutes.

When I gave this example to a nay-saying friend, his response was simple: “Couldn’t you write a better resume than what the AI produced?”

My response: “Maybe?”

I probably could if I’m being honest. I’ve been fortunate to have training on that kind of thing, have worked with a number of other folks on their resumes, been on hiring teams evaluating candidates, etc. So yes. I probably could. 

But then the question becomes more haunting for me personally. Instead of “could I”, I think to myself “would I”?

And if I’m honest again, sometimes the answer would be “No”. Not “No, I’m unwilling to help write a resume” but “No, I’m unwilling to spend the time it would take to write a better resume than what you just got from the AI”. I may let myself off the hook too - the AI is faster; The output is good enough - no need to over-optimize; etc.

This resume scenario is a perfect illustration of a broader concept that I like to call BATN-AI, which stands for 'Best Alternative To Navigating AI'.

BATN-AI

In negotiations, the best alternative to a negotiated agreement or BATNA refers to “the most advantageous alternative course of action a party can take if negotiations fail and an agreement cannot be reached”. That is, if you don’t agree, then what are you going to do. What’s the next best thing?

Applied here, we might think about BATN-AI as "If you're not going to or can't use AI, what's your best alternative option?"

In the case of the resume builder, the answer might be to spend time researching how to do it or fill in a template online. If I want to layer in expertise to ease nerves that I’m doing it “right”, it might be to find the hour-long session on this at the local library. Don’t get me wrong - these are viable options, and common paths. But there are meaningful tradeoffs. In this case, it’s time - which may be a limiting factor to someone who needs to otherwise take care of kids or who’s time out of the workplace may be meaningfully impacting their quality of life.

The same can be said for an AI Feedback Provider for assignments where a student without the resources is looking to learn and grow. Or maybe it’s getting dating advice from Jane Austin or a fun mystery game when no one else is around to play.

From practical to playful, there is opportunity for AI to become more than just a party-trick. And even more - even where it falls short - we shouldn’t hold up the failures in isolation. Remembering what the BATN-AI is - what options are available if we don’t learn to navigate AI - can be a humbling way to see the potential not just for ourselves but for those around us.