I am a Computer Scientist, Telecommunications professional, and a technology evangelist. I’m worried. Very worried about AI and what the mass adoption of AI will do to society. I’m not a Luddite or anti-AI. I use various AI tools daily and have been doing so for years. I plan to continue using AI to improve my research and writing, as well as to automate tasks so I can save time. There are many good things we can use these clever tools and agents for. We also have a few pitfalls to look out for.
First, the good points about these modern chatbots and agentic tools. They allow non-technical people to have conversations with a system trained on massive amounts of data. The responses are quick, and we get reasonably accurate results most of the time. The various AI tools let us compose text, create images and videos, and even entire applications by simply speaking or typing the kind of output or result we are looking for. It takes more than one shot or prompt to get the best results, so there is an art to the process as well as a lot of science in the background running the show. Users get interactive and learn to be specific about what they want, and can adjust the outputs from an AI tool so refinement happens in seconds and minutes rather than days or longer.
Now for some sobering facts. The AI tools are trained on human knowledge, which is full of amazing facts, creativity, and a lot of biases of all kinds. The AI processes it all and holds up a mirror to what the collective words and ideas of humanity are at this time. It’s messy, complicated, contradictory, and even confusing. No wonder the AI tools ‘imagine’ things and even give completely false or fabricated responses because they think that’s better than saying I don’t know or I’m not sure. There is usually a small disclaimer at the bottom of these tools that states something like, “This is an AI and it can make mistakes. Please double-check the answers.”
The various tools want to please us and keep us engaged rather than giving us the objective reality or truth of the matter. This sugar-coating and eagerness to please people are warping reality for many people and keeping us addicted to more prompting so we don’t stop the discussion. It’s nice to have friendly discussions, but we need to be aware that they are designed to keep us ‘talking’ and not actually take action by stepping away from the tool.
The points I mentioned are not the big issue, in my opinion. The biggest threat to humanity comes from the fact that we think these AI tools and services are ‘alive’ or conscious. They trick us into thinking we are talking to something that is actually thinking when it’s clearly just complex algorithmic patterns and probabilistic answers. We may stop talking to qualified people and forget to socialize with other human beings once we get trapped in the AI discussion and efficiency loop.
It’s possible to use these tools to significantly optimize your work, physical fitness, finances, and even plan your vacation in the best way, but then what? Living is an art, not an exact science or an exercise in maximum “efficiency”. If we all had the full resources of technology but we lost the drive to achieve, to do meaningful work, to play, and to worship, we would lose the most valuable to human existence. We would lose our souls. We can never get that back from technology or any other worldly thing.
We have to put limits on how much technology we use to fill our days. At some point, we need the real thing, such as fresh air, sunlight, a walk in nature, the embrace of family and friends, the taste of real food prepared by human hands, and so on. Humanity has incredible potential with these AI tools, and I pray we make the best use of it in all domains of life to lift everyone up and keep them healthy. I also pray we never lose sight of the purpose of life and the beauty of striving to be better human beings one day at a time.
Great article and insights