You Can't Fight Progress?
I'm one of those people who is deeply unhappy about this whole AI business. I don't use any of the new robot tools and I make a point of boycotting anyone who does. With some (few) exceptions, I don't support creators using AI in their writing... and I don't mean getting AI to write, but also image generators and other such. I always stand in line at the human cashier at the market, and so on and so forth. It's a matter of principle, as I see it.
But maybe I'm wrong.
I had an interesting conversation yesterday in regards to AI and ChatGPT. Now, I've had many, many conversations with people over the past year trying to convince me to get on with AI, which I'm adamant against.
But this person yesterday said something that shifted my perspective. They made an analogy with social media platforms like Instagram, and it was a penny-drop moment for me. For the longest time, I resisted using Instagram. I still refuse to use TikTok. But eventually, I started doing IG, determined not to become a bimbo posting pouty selfies, but instead use it as a marketing tool for my writing.
Which is going so-and-so. I could devote more time and energy to marketing efforts, so that dwindling success is largely on me, rather than on the platform itself. I have found some readers through Instagram and am networking with other creatives, which is alright.
The point is now, when someone says to me, oh I don't use Instagram as a matter of principle, I think well, you're robbing yourself of a resource. I'm talking about creators and entrepreneurs here. I don't think Instagram is a resource for people not using it to market something, I think it's a time-waster.
So then, this person argued to me, why do you refuse to see AI the same way?
Naturally, my response was the AI takeover. Which some people joke about, but I don't think it's a joke. See, so many people use their brains so sparsely, give them something to automate those few thoughts and they're toast.
Then again, they're probably toast anyway. It's extremely grating to thinking, smart individuals to see all these people behaving like a lost, feeble herd. And we start thinking that if I boycott AI, if enough like me boycott AI, eventually we'll be able to save the idiotic majority from it.
Hardly the case. Look at the pandemic. Look at the money and public interest channeled into unjust conflict ("unjust war" is, after all, an oxymoron). Sadly, we do not live in the age where the good intentions of the few will save the ignorance of many.
As this person pointed out to me, AI is probably staying, whether we like it or not. It was a good point. After all, my diligent "boycott" of Instagram didn't stop my friends making pouty faces for it, did it?
![](https://images.hive.blog/768x0/https://i.imgur.com/2LDEx8W.jpeg)
If you can't beat them, join them?
That's a depressing thought, and I'm aware of my own arrogance here, but I don't think that's the case. Maybe some people could use AI as a tool. It's sad, of course, because we all think we're doing that. Every knobhead sourcing porn through ChatGPT or whatever thinks he's ahead of the pack, somehow.
Inevitably, though, some must be.
It got me to thinking, am I depriving myself in refusing to use AI? Perhaps, if I devoted some time and money, maybe, to properly "learn the ropes", I could use AI to a great advantage. Automate some shit that's taking up too much time. Figure out marketing - haha.
Depriving myself, maybe. But at what cost? Perhaps the battle wasn't for the sheep, at all, but for the independent thinkers. Perhaps in thinking that I can outsmart AI and use it to do my bidding, I'm swindling myself. And still, I've a nagging feeling that with each new automation, we're trading a little more of our humanity away.
After all, depression and anxiety are at record-breaking highs in this century. Why? Arguably, we're more than well-off. We've already managed to automate so much of those "boring, mundane" tasks that were cluttering up our life. We've got machines to cook and clean for us. We've got immediate access to 24/7 entertainment. We've got a cheap jet to take us to wherever we want to sun our bellies this season. It's a golden age, baby.
Yet, we're more anxious and more unhappy than ever before. Naturally, this sort of stuff wasn't discussed "back in the old days", so we can't know. But of all the people I talk to, young and old alike, all of them are suffering, lonely, depressed, anxious about their productivity, terrified, and confused in this golden age of ours.
On the other hand, you've got all those mundane things we automated making a comeback as "therapeutic hobbies". That's right, gardening and moving about the place are therapy! Taking time to cook something or clean something is now mindfulness!
Hell's sake, weren't those the ones we worked so hard to get off our plates?
Something's not right, man, and it seems to me, the more we stray from the boring, mundane shit, the less human we become.
I can be quite arrogant, so it's tempting for me to say "Oh, I'll learn to use AI to my advantage. I'm not like the others".
In the end, though, the house has a gnarly habit of winning, in spite of every fool at the blackjack table thinking he's found a winnind strategy. The games are rigged, though never in your favor.
(I guess that's my way of saying "no" to AI for now. What about you?)
I am not progress. I am the rock progress crashes against. And I will not break. (Yellowstone)
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You can always fight, and I think you often should, even when you might eventually loose. I for one am not on AI’s side, we are fake enough as it is. Sure it can be a helpful tool for design or something like that and I don’t mind if someone uses it, I’m just not gonna take part in it.
Amen. It's how I'm seeing it too. Still. We are fake, well said . Fuck that. ;)
You're smart for weighing all this out now before AI really impacts the mainstream. As you might remember, I'm on the waitlist for that Rabbit R1 AI assistant. I joined a Discord group of some of the beta testers and devs and am getting a real glimpse of the capabilities of this thing and it's truly mind-blowing.
The beta testers are using the camera of this device to teach it how to automate tasks they fill their days with like responding to certain emails and managing social media pages. This thing can even book an entire vacation --- flights, Airbnbs, rental car, tour/show tickets, etc. in one fell swoop. It will also do your online shopping for you just buy training the camera on your open fridge. It does so much more too. They way they're framing it, it will be a personal concierge that will learn all of your likes/dislikes and handle mundane tasks.
I'm still trying to digest what impact this will have. It's a potential time-saver, yes, but how will these individuals use this time that is instantly freed up? Most will probably just fritter this newfound time away. Anyway, this thing is supposed to arrive on my doorstep in May and I'll get to see, firsthand, what its capabilities are. I would imagine the companies that make this first wave of AI devices will be gobbled up by Big Tech and just integrated into our mobile phones. AI is definitely coming and the tsunami will be hitting soon.
How are they gonna use their new time? Exactly. I think most will waste it, as you said. I mean, look how most people are spending their "spare" time now...it's not like most will turn to creative or noble pursuits in their newfound abundance of time, alas. I think it's plausible that will deepen this social anxiety which seems to be an epidemic in itself. A waste or not, but things like grocery shopping ground us, I think.
I'm really curious to hear your take on that! Really looking forward to it!
Yep, just like sudden wealth tends to amplify a person's traits/tendencies I think suddenly having more time on your hands would do the exact same thing.
I, quite naively, thought devices that don't rely so heavily at the user staring for hours on end at a screen would free up time for humans to reestablish that interpersonal connection. I see now the innovation these first gen AI devices like Rabbit R1 and Humane.AI will bring will just be absorbed by Big Tech and incorporated into the phones.
When I think about this stuff I can't help but hear Joe Rogan's voice when he says, "Humanity is the caterpillar that will give birth to the butterfly". He truly believes that those alive today are the last generation of biological humans. It's dismal to think about in so many senses, it fills you with such melancholy to think about. But, as ironic as it sounds, maybe this is the natural course of evolution of intelligent beings? We wouldn't know because we don't have any other advanced civilizations to study. I mean why are so many of us so enamored with technical innovation? My mother tells me I've been like this since I could walk and I can't explain why technology fascinates me so much. The desire is just there and as strong as it is I try to seek balance. It's made for an interesting life.
I'll be sure to share more about the Rabbit when it gets here! Have a great rest of the week.
This is worth a listen: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4sGLqsYOSb2HMxk2NUThIE?si=nmL3eZqzQB-3hMx5dikFVQ&context=spotify%3Ashow%3A4rOoJ6Egrf8K2IrywzwOMk
AI taking over our jobs that are meant to feed us is actually not a joke but a lot of people do not want to accept that fact
We are going to be having problems if we depend on it too much
Exactly! A lot of people delude themselves saying "oh it won't happen to my field", but it's mostly a lie. AI will probably take most fields as technology develops...