I’m Not Afraid Of AI.
Generative AI is here, whether you like it or not.
Most of the buzz these days focuses on the output, IP, and the impact to education and the labor force, once this is running full steam.
Yet, if we take a moment to back up from the expression, the implications behind it can be a bit scarier. You see, I’m not as concerned with what it does. I’m concerned about what it will do to us.
Generative AI is not just about losing jobs, it is about losing our humanity.
I made a similar case years ago with some nostalgic musings on the driverless car. What happens when we allow machines to do tasks intended for humans? How does that change our brains, our society, the milestones of human development? I guess that remains to be seen. But so far, it is rewiring our brains in a way that will signal a big, and not-so-great change in our world.
What blows me away about AI is not its uncanny ability to create words and images with a simplicity never before seen in the world. Rather it is the speed in which we have freely given into this novelty, at the cost to our humanity.
Offload work, sure? Let me just take a long lunch.
Our minds need something to do. They constantly take us back and forth in time. If we take that away, and cease to exercise our mind, we take away what separates us as humans.
Creativity is not a linear process. Think. Do. Put down, come back. Think more. Repeat. That’s how it works. Pencils are never down in creativity, and even when we deliver a finished product, in our minds we continue to cultivate, refresh and make it better. Even if it never makes it to the final product.
I love writing. It’s a way to get to know myself and the world around me. I never focus on the output, but rather how I arrive there. I hope the next generation of people, who use the creative arts for those same reasons, can find a way to continue that.
Unfortunately, the digital decisions we are making today will have a profound effect on who we are in the future. How will people come into their identity? What happens to the high school art kids and other creatives now that they are equalized? Will they feel lost? Alone? Without purpose?
Many times, who we are directs us to the path we take. We develop skills, alone in our rooms, with journals and sketch pads. We sit for hours with our own thoughts and visions, that come out with pencil and paper. They make us feel good. What happens when our analog brains are no longer needed to do this. How do we become who we are?
People are flawed. Beautifully flawed. And creativity is such a part of that human experience. It is cultivated by life, rendered as artistic expression. It is a gift, an identity, how we deal with trauma or the world in general. It is a way to make a living, or a means to challenge the world around us. Yet, the world of generative AI and algorithms, simply deliver the same version of the same world.
I can’t imagine my grandkids growing up, where a creative idea is as easy as throwing in a Pop Tart. There is something innate about human thinking, that we should not give to computers. That feeling when you nail an idea is such a powerful rush. The creative process is too great a gift to give away.
Now, some may say that the AI train has already left the station. Fair statement, except, it is something that we truly have control over. And right now, we are ushering it along, without being mindful of the consequences. And I am just as guilty as anyone for my unwary use of these tools.
Think about it, we don’t need to use AI, right? We could go back to creating art, copy and literature the same way we have done so for years. Yet, as much as some people may complain about it, it is not going to happen. But let’s be clear that AI is a choice. Without mass adoption, it will die a horrible Myspace death.
Sorry, Tom.
Even now, we are so enamored by what AI can do, we lose sight of what it is doing to us. Google just lost 12,000 jobs, and is investing heavily in AI. Yet, many building the machine turn a blind eye to the fact that they are actually helping a computer take their jobs. The shortsightedness is overwhelming. Not just at Google, but everywhere.
AI is taking us back to the era of Rail Road Barons, with a few at the top making all the money. The difference is, the computers are the workers, as they will no doubt replace the people who built them in the first place.
Take a minute to think about what our little domestic conveniences will one day turn into? Roomba will replace cleaners. Self-driving vehicles will replace drivers. AI will replace writers, artists, editors, screenwriters, actors, voice actors, illustrators and animators. We have self-serve media. We check ourselves out at stores. There are robots that build cars and clean grocery stores. We buy all of our shit online, without salespeople. Kiosks replace humans in hotels and act as digital concierge. Drones will deliver. Airplanes basically fly themselves. The list is exhaustive.
Picture just about any job, and you can see how AI or presumptive technology will impact it for the worse. The labor force will be disrupted like never before. And we are the ones facilitating it, in exchange for the brevity of convenience.
AI lulls us. We are so easily enamored by its wonderment. Most recently the ability to create pictures from words and dissertations from prompts. We are fascinated both by the results (which will continue to improve), and by the whole idea that this is possible in our lifetime.
I see AI as a comet, with overwhelming potential to make direct, existential impact on the earth in 5 years. We don’t know if we will survive the impact, but 5 years is too long to simply give up and wait in a fetal position.
So we live our lives. We buy coffee and groceries. We get married. Go to work. Pay our bills. Maybe, to enjoy the short life we have left, we make peace with the comet. We see it in the sky, and it is beautiful, especially at night. Songs are be written about it. And although one day we know the destruction it will cause, we choose to simply watch it gracefully make its way through the sky.
All this talk is reminiscent of the film Transcendent Man. It follows Ray Kurzweil as he contemplates the imminent blending of humans and machines. It’s an interesting film, and all seems to be tracking as we go from phone addiction to wearables and soon to implants or chips.
Talking to you, Elon.
Fascinating and scary. And Ray, who became Director of Engineering at Google in 2012, says his sole purpose is to make computers as intelligent as humans.
So, that.
Yet, as I have nervously contemplated the film for years, I recently discovered something I had not seen before.
It is not just computers getting closer to people. It is people getting closer to computers as well. Because technology changes the way we think, how we are wired, the neuroplasticity of our brain. These changes will become evolutionary until the machines eventually render us into a flesh container, serving at the pleasure of our computer-fed brain.
I know, grim.
It really comes down to this: The shortsightedness, laziness and greed of the human race is easily disguised as efficiency. We have never been a species that enjoys life’s process. We hack life and ignore just how profoundly valuable the path can be in defining who we are. We always contemplate a step forward, rather than being ok on our present footing. We constantly look for ways to save steps, and those who do are rewarded.
In the same breath, people love to complain about how much data is captured from their online behavior. Yet, we are quite happy to have a newsfeed, playlist or video queue that serves us what we like, without even thinking.
Ass on couch. Press button. Done.
So, we automate decisions. Allow the algorithm to make them for us. That convenience factor is dangerous, not just about how much data is captured, but how it changes our behavior. Think about it. There is no one in the world who knows you, truly knows the authentic you, better than your data. Yet, we endlessly give it away, slowly revealing ourselves in a way no one with a heartbeat will ever know. Not that we are hiding our true selves, but there is just too much to tell. Yet, our online behavior captures it all.
Algorithms care about one thing, delivering sameness. Hey, if you like this, you will probably like this, so here’s more of the same. We make an errant click, a brief interlude into something that leaves an imprint that can last our entire digital life. And when our news and entertainment is curated from our past behavior, it’s nearly impossible to learn anything new.
AI has given us a lot, but at a great cost. And you can look to our nation’s capital to see the consequences in action.
I love this quote, even though the gender is a bit dated. As a human, we benefit from both reflective, authentic and deductive thinking. Computers are sophisticated order takers, pulling in information, and making it appear more human. Yet, they can only react via our prompt. At least for now.
Yet, creativity is about reduction. Taking away until you are left with simply the essence. That is why simplicity is often misunderstood. The simple idea almost never comes at the beginning. It is most often found at the end, as you clear everything else away.
I’m a writer. I generally have 4–5 articles in my head that I approach with various levels of motivation. In addition, I write for work. So, I am very aware of the process, both for clients and for myself.
For every piece, I approach, re-approach, rethink and rewrite at least 15–20 times. AI doesn’t have that ability to reflect without another prompt. And with creative, there are so many reductive moments, that going back is sometimes the only way forward.
Technology can be scary. Socrates was against writing, as it would take away the skill of remembering. It’s probably true. Especially for me, who cannot function without a list.
Yet, the shortcut of AI has the potential to take away far more than simply keeping our memory sharp. It can take away who we are.
As a culture, we focus so much on the result, that we forget that the process is what really matters. And without those authentic, human moments to try, fail, reflect, live, we lose something that is so innately important.
We lose us.
