Deaf in the write ear
No problem, pt 6
I’d commented about my hearing on a social media post on deafness.
‘Have you looked into these hearing aids - they’re designed to overcome head shadow’, came the impromptu reply from a hearing aid specialist.
Head shadow?
Not a phrase I’d heard before, despite having no hearing on one side, which effectively creates a sound-free shadow to my right.
See, when I had mumps at 18 months it killed the vestibulocochlear nerve in my right ear and damaged the one on the left.
But it was my balance that showed the nursery assistants that something was wrong - I kept falling over for no reason.
I expect they thought my slow response was normal naughty-boyness.
Balance, intermittently poor audio processing, energy required to maintain attention in noisy environments and that bloody tinnitus - all these issues are far more annoying than not being able to hear in one ear.
That and not being able to tell where sounds come from.
“Over here, Greg!” is the most useless call on a football pitch.
And the head shadow thing? Well, it’s never been an issue - I just turn my head when in conversation. It might look like I’m turning to kiss you, but it’s just a conversation I want honest.
Sure I miss out on certain audio cues, but it’s rarely an issue.
Anyway, curious as I am I looked into the £4,000 hearing aid that solves head shadow by placing a microphone on the deaf ear and projecting it into the the good ear.
Quite the brute force tech solution and one I’m sure some benefit from.
But the key issue is one of reverb. While the product is good, it would impact the quality of sound in my good ear, which seems a pointless trade-off for me, when my process of life is more effective than shiny tech.
I rarely talk about my hearing because it’s not, for me, a disability, just something to get on with.
It’s ironic that I consider myself highly excitable when it comes to technology developments, yet I’m never an early adopter.
When the PS3 came out, I held off on buying it.
Very expensive and only one decent game? Well, my friend Scott regretted his decision and sold his for an Xbox, despite it being inferior specs-wise.
How about MiniDiscs - remember them?
New tech that did something different, but just seemed a stepping stone for me.
We even had a hi-fi that included a MiniDisc player, not that we had any to listen to.
It always comes back to the same question.
What opportunities does this tech bring?
How does it improve my life?
Is it best to wait until a more relevant solution comes up?
I bought my PS3 second hand a couple of years later, and never regretted waiting.
And I won’t be buying a hearing aid now. I expect I’ll buy a traditional one if the hearing in my good ear becomes problematic with age, but that’s something for the right time.
And so it is for AI in recruitment, and the shininess of tech in general.
They are positioned as solving problems, and indeed they do, but in many cases, it’s the wrong problem that detracts us from the real opportunities for better processes.
Simpler administration, speed and scale are clear benefits.
And some of these AI-branded automations are excellent.
The Star Trek-style auto-translator makes me giddy. As does the sales bot conversation-as-a-human sales video that’s doing the rounds.
But AI for writing? What problem does that solve?
For me, it depends on what you consider sales to be.
Is sales pitching a generic message and hoping someone will bite?
Or is sales laying out the facts so that the right person can reach an objective decision? A decision which might mean getting in touch, or changing their view on what needs recruiting.
For the former AI writing seems to solve a problem. The words are certainly better, but the message is even worse.
Yes: prompting. But if you can prompt the right message, why aren’t you just writing it, so that you embed that knowledge for use across other mediums - conversations, meetings and so on?
While AI writing does not meet the requirements for the second type of sales.
You can only do this by establishing the right facts from a briefing, consultation or interview.
Then interpret this with meaning to the right people so that it creates the right impact.
Sales as data visualisation, if you will.
And if AI doesn’t work for sales in this way, why would it work for content or marketing?
I think the answer depends on whether you value contextual insight or not.
Until AI is better at asking questions that create meaningful conversation, it’s a non-starter for me.
I say until because this hesitation will be moot in the next year or so.
Because it isn’t what AI is now that’s the opportunity - it’s what’s coming soon.
I can’t wait to see what’s next.
Until then, AI, for writing, is a question of in one ear and out of the other.
Which, if you’re deaf in the one, is quite the problem.
Go learn copywriting instead, and listen to how it transforms your approach to recruitment. Then layer tech on top, when it’s ready.
Thanks for reading.
Regards,
Greg
p.s this article was brought to you by ChatGPT
p.p.s. jk