Great essay! Working in technology (software, in particular), it astounds me the degree to which the very decision-makers driving these "AI Initiatives" truly DON'T understand what AI IS, what it does WELL (and especially what it DOESN'T), and where it absolutely needs human co-working to be made even usable.
My "prediction" is that, over time, we will begin to see these well-entrenched companies that made such foundation altering decisions based on the two business myths of the 2020s (Offshoring + AI as Panacea) die the "death by a thousand cuts" via the lower quality of their products and services, critical (digital) infrastructural vulnerabilities, loss of goodwill in the eyes of their primary customer base, and more - all in a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
All that said, it's a great time to be a principled, enterprising individual who enjoys learning and creating, because I feel that many of the "best and brightest" among us will see this maelstrom and opt for a different path. I'm optimistic that we may yet see a "changing of the guard" within our lifetimes.
Excellent analysis 🧐 It must be challenging to have your insights and intelligence at times . Reminds me of Cassandra who was given the gift of prophecy but nobody was able to hear her. Sometimes I wonder if we are all run by our nervous systems more than being conscious ? Thanks for a deeply thoughtful article .
Thank you very much, Wendy. You are far too kind! I'm no more than a humble, stooped scrivener trying to make sense of a world that is changing more quickly than we humans can process.
Yes, and the conversation seems to be stuck on the functionality of AI. People are stuck on its implementation and ignoring its integration. Whether AI has this capability or that ability at this point isn't the salient debate. Rather, its that AI is being pre-loaded into our societal (and then cultural) system in anticipation not of how it will work at all but rather that it becomes the default operating system as a strategy to attain control overall. The battle is no longer German cars vs. American cars vs. Japanese cars, Microsoft vs. Apple or Meta vs. Google or some kind of brand battle royale, jostling for your choice based on the best functional, easy on the eye UX or social reach or ability to make the coolest anthemic commercial. It is the full underwriting operation of things. In general. I keep thinking about that. It is the integration of a basic OS into our lives. And these AI OS options (doesn't matter which one "wins") are owned and controlled by a very small group of humans, and will be owned and controlled by a very small group of humans. And these humans aren't in it for civic resilience. In the end, they are designing the playing field, lowest-common-denominator-ing the expectations and defining success based on the success that can be achieved based on functionality untethered from any autonomous metric of success. They are loading into society a self-fulfilling prophecy of use-case, yes, and that use-case, for them, is control in the first place. It continues to boggle my mind that whether AI "works" (or will work) or not is such a hot topic. Smoke screens and red herrings.
Great essay! Working in technology (software, in particular), it astounds me the degree to which the very decision-makers driving these "AI Initiatives" truly DON'T understand what AI IS, what it does WELL (and especially what it DOESN'T), and where it absolutely needs human co-working to be made even usable.
My "prediction" is that, over time, we will begin to see these well-entrenched companies that made such foundation altering decisions based on the two business myths of the 2020s (Offshoring + AI as Panacea) die the "death by a thousand cuts" via the lower quality of their products and services, critical (digital) infrastructural vulnerabilities, loss of goodwill in the eyes of their primary customer base, and more - all in a self-reinforcing downward spiral.
All that said, it's a great time to be a principled, enterprising individual who enjoys learning and creating, because I feel that many of the "best and brightest" among us will see this maelstrom and opt for a different path. I'm optimistic that we may yet see a "changing of the guard" within our lifetimes.
"I'm optimistic that we may yet see a "changing of the guard" within our lifetimes." Yes, yes, yes. I too remain ever hopeful!
Excellent analysis 🧐 It must be challenging to have your insights and intelligence at times . Reminds me of Cassandra who was given the gift of prophecy but nobody was able to hear her. Sometimes I wonder if we are all run by our nervous systems more than being conscious ? Thanks for a deeply thoughtful article .
Thank you very much, Wendy. You are far too kind! I'm no more than a humble, stooped scrivener trying to make sense of a world that is changing more quickly than we humans can process.
Timely. Very important article. Thanks Tom!
Thank you for reading!!
Very much enjoyed
Thank you!
"I'll see it when I believe it."
Yes, and the conversation seems to be stuck on the functionality of AI. People are stuck on its implementation and ignoring its integration. Whether AI has this capability or that ability at this point isn't the salient debate. Rather, its that AI is being pre-loaded into our societal (and then cultural) system in anticipation not of how it will work at all but rather that it becomes the default operating system as a strategy to attain control overall. The battle is no longer German cars vs. American cars vs. Japanese cars, Microsoft vs. Apple or Meta vs. Google or some kind of brand battle royale, jostling for your choice based on the best functional, easy on the eye UX or social reach or ability to make the coolest anthemic commercial. It is the full underwriting operation of things. In general. I keep thinking about that. It is the integration of a basic OS into our lives. And these AI OS options (doesn't matter which one "wins") are owned and controlled by a very small group of humans, and will be owned and controlled by a very small group of humans. And these humans aren't in it for civic resilience. In the end, they are designing the playing field, lowest-common-denominator-ing the expectations and defining success based on the success that can be achieved based on functionality untethered from any autonomous metric of success. They are loading into society a self-fulfilling prophecy of use-case, yes, and that use-case, for them, is control in the first place. It continues to boggle my mind that whether AI "works" (or will work) or not is such a hot topic. Smoke screens and red herrings.