Look at that cover image!! What a charismatic, jacked, handsome dude. Apparently, that’s me. It doesn’t exactly match reality, but it’s pretty fascinating to see how some 0s and 1s make something this complex happen immediately. A few minutes ago I had a thought in my head. Then I pressed some buttons on a computer and I got this picture back. Fascinating what technology can do today…
It is mindblowing! Can you imagine the possibilities?! Just ask any questions and a computer gives the answer right away. Or get your job done for – and instead of – you (just make sure your boss doesn’t find it out). It can guide a person through an entire life journey.
AI can be our personal assistant. Our accountant. Our friend. Our helper. Creative, productive, informative, supportive and a lot more. And unfortunately, it can be our worst enemy. It is worth having a reality check though, because all this can lead to a very interesting perspective: losing ourselves and the ground with reality.
The intentions can be right, there is a very big difference between getting the best advice and the worst one. Unfortunately, an AI doesn’t step back and re-examine its whole chain of reasoning the way a cautious human expert does. So, when it makes a mistake, and it gets called out on the BS, it says, ooppsie, my bad. Well thanks dumbo – I nearly drank Domestos because you told me it will help me to deal with my gut bacteria.
I hope you are getting the point. At the end of the day, we are in charge of our decisions. Whether an advice is coming from a chatbot, the local shaman or the redneck from the neighbourhood, it is (at least partially) down to us to decide whether to take it or not. And while in many cases we get real help, it is equally as easy to get taken to a place where there is no turning back from.
Don’t particularly take this entry as I’m purely talking about AI, because AI knows what other people have done, said, wrote and told it to learn. It did not experience anything first hand. It just “heard people doing” something many times so it believes it’s true, and it sells it as facts. It may be reasonable to say that a personal trainer who learned from the same sources and is teaching “facts” is not much different to an AI, but 1) they have at least personal experience (hopefully) and 2) you can still rely on that gut feeling about the trainer, be in charge when making the final decision about your own future.
Coins have two sides. Or are they? Top, bottom, edge?! Hm, sounds like three, but anyway.
The good
If you are very clear about what you want, AI will help you with the information you need. I often use it to help me sum up things, notice patterns, help me with coding, do an overall evaluation of something (a training program, a weekly diet breakdown) and sometimes to do the work that I am lazy to do – for example, compare 3 supplements and tell me which one is the best based on a certain criteria. I’m very clear about the criteria though.
A few years ago I would have needed to google something, and then another thing, and then a third one, and I would have gotten the same results eventually myself. With AI, things are just faster. It helps a lot that I treat it with a very clear intent, and a load of rationale.
I often try to teach my clients too how to use it to their advantage. These conversations are mostly based on the idea that we know what we want, and all we need is a bit of guidance. For example, let’s say I’m looking to be more energetic. If I can tell AI what I’m currently experiencing in my energy levels and how I feel in my body; how a week of training, sleeping, other weekly activities and stress look like; what I eat in a whole week, what supplements I take; and I can support this with a medical record, blood test results and 10years of data from my fitness tracker, it is possible that the AI can figure out what considerations I should make. This can be lifestyle advice, diet guidance, some other tests to recommend, and more.
While this can be very productive, unfortunately, this requires that we have a very clear way of communicating useful information without assuming that the receiving end just “knows what we mean”. Assumptions do not work. Data does. Which takes me to the next point.
The bad
Good outputs require good inputs. So, if what I am telling to AI (or to anyone really) is a bit incomplete, then what we get back will (likely to) be incomplete too.
But how do you find out if what you are giving is enough?
Great question. Very difficult to answer. Actually, the answer is very simple – know what you need and be very clear about everything that relates to it. The difficult part is learning how to think that way in the first place.
I don’t watch much television, but I think this is what the old school British TV with their sarcastic humor got incredibly well. Whatever you say, I respond to that. It won’t be the outcome that you wanted to have, but it will respond to what you asked.
– Could you give me the butter?
– Sure, I could.
…
– Why are you just standing there?
– You only asked if I could.
– GIVE ME THE BUTTER.
– Why are you shouting? You never asked for it.
Similar scenarios (with less sarcasm) often come up with most people I speak with, and unfortunately, this probably happens to me too when I am the client who is looking to get a service or learn something new. This is normal. Overall, the more clarity we have, the easier it is to find helpful answers. On the other hand though, what happens when we fully give up self control, and allow someone (or something) else to completely control our lives? I’ll tell you.
The ugly
We lose ourselves. Sometimes we know and do what we want. Sometimes, we don’t know what we want, so we do something else. And sometimes, whether we do or don’t know what we want, we are doing what someone else wants us to do, and that leads to no good in the long run.
I can imagine a household or a system, where AI is the boss. It can track what we eat or drink, because it’s connected to the fridge. It can access health stats, because of the smart watch, the smart scale, the blood test results and the family history are all linked together. The security cameras at home can see what we do during the day and the speakers can remind us to get up, walk, do a burpee, eat an artichoke, and drink some turmeric. Oh crap, the last bottle broke. No problem, the new supply has been ordered already. To collect it, just jump in your Tesla, AI has already programmed the route to the store and paid for everything with your credit card. You will be home in 27minutes, right on time for your 3pm Peloton session with a virtual instructor on the screen.
“But I just want to spend time with my children…” sorry, that’s not how you optimize health, longevity and happiness.
“Bummer…”
– – –
Every generation invents something that makes thinking easier. The danger isn’t the tool. The danger is forgetting that you still have to think. And with AI, I think we are on a slippery slope. I think it is very easy to let go of our judgement, and blindly follow what a chatbot recommends.
The harsh reality is, at some point in our life, we need to face the uncomfortable truth and learn who we are. Only then do we truly become able to say: I.
When that time comes, AI can make I even more – or at least make I’s life easier and more productive. But I’s life is still about I. And no AI can do I as well as I.