The State of the Art
“May you live in interesting times” (Old Chinese Proverb)
This was never meant as a greeting or gesture of goodwill.
The implication here is that you live in times of turmoil and uncertainty, so it’s more of a curse if anything.
We live in times of great change. Continued advances in medicine and technology positively impact the lives of so many globally, it would be hard to argue otherwise. Of course, there will be downsides to new tech, and life-enhancing developments will aways come with their own set of responsibilities.
The rise of AI and automation is no different. These emerging technologies can do many of the tasks we do today, and no doubt even more tomorrow.
On the surface, this is good news, it means people will no longer need to do the dull, dangerous or dirty jobs they once did. These advancements should afford us more time to pursue other interests, in theory, at least. Take the humble domestic washing machine, how much more time did it take to hand wash clothes in the days before, and how many extra minutes of free time have since been transferred to the user, this is basic maths.
There is a growing fear in the public psyche that AI and robotics will displace the jobs market and replace the human worker, and the fruits of their applications will only be enjoyed by the business owner. These are just concerns but are solvable by policymakers if acted on in time.
It is easy to find tech gurus on social media warning of the threats of runaway AI. It is a topic I don’t have enough information to have an informed opinion on. This is for the experts to figure out, not something to keep me awake at night. What worries me, is our over dependency on these technologies.
It is tempting to pass everything we do to the machine, including our creativity and storytelling. But to do this, in my mind is to hand over our autonomy, and forfeit a connection with ourselves and each other. A connection to the past and the places we come from, the things which make us human. So, let’s not give up on ourselves, it is up to us to write the pages in our next chapter.
We may never know how valuable these connections are. The chat a freshly brewed coffee brings, or the hushed whispers in a quiet corner over a couple of drinks. We should cherish these conversations and the moments we share.
Yes, the machine can mimic with the right algorithms, but it will never create from the human experience. Let us not forget this, lest we forget what it is to be human. Unless you want it to read you its bedtime story, and maybe one day tuck you in too.