"When public libraries first offered free computer and internet access in the 1990s, long lines formed as people eagerly flocked to experience email, online news and emerging digital culture firsthand. Libraries became vital digital hubs teaching computer skills, facilitating new opportunities like job searches online, and bridging access gaps during the early public internet era."
The paragraph you just read was generated by Claude – Anthropic's next-generation AI assistant. When I asked Claude to share some anecdotes about how humans have embraced new technology in the past, it wasn't exactly the kind of story that I was looking for but it did lead me to research and find out that librarians were initially against the idea of providing public computer and internet access, seeing it as a competitor. It wasn't until advocates for it like Jean Armour Polly introduced the idea and worked with public libraries and internet providers to make it possible. "Now, we're getting somewhere," I thought after my own further research.
While new technology can feel daunting, maybe even threatening, embracing it doesn't signify the end. In most cases, like the internet or like my experience with Claude or ChatGPT, it is only the beginning.
AI or Artificial Intelligence has been embedded in our ambient information landscape for so long, it's just that it used to belong to the unseen world of binary code. But this all changed with the public launch of ChatGPT just over a year ago. The language barrier between person and machine came down like the Berlin wall, and overnight, everyone could hear and see and speak to it – it somehow became tangible and accessible.
However, as much as our fascination grew, so did everyone's fears that it would lead us to our extinction. Does this mean that we should stop using it? No. In fact, McKinsey advises that CEOs consider the exploration of generative AI a must, not a maybe.
So, if the hesitation to embrace AI stems from fear of being replaced or losing control, how can we take ownership of something that's generated or performed by a machine?
Permission to play
The truth is, humanity is probably too far down the path to turn back from AI now, even if we wanted to. This technology promises unprecedented benefits to organisations and society. Businesses will still unlock novel use cases for it, but in the meantime, it can speed up the analysis process from days to hours or even minutes, enable decision velocity at scale and capture insights one might otherwise overlook in the vast sea of data.
The potential benefits for efficiency and productivity in knowledge-intensive organisations are clear, and the professional services, health care and finance industries are investing billions in adopting the technologies. As much as 40 per cent of working hours will be augmented or automated by generative AI, while Gartner predicts that almost 70 per cent of managers' routine work will be fully automated by 2024.
However, adopting or embracing new technology like AI cannot be manufactured nor forced or mandated. It should not be an 'order,' it should start with a creative exercise – what possibilities could be explored? Let people play with it, navigate their own way, and let them discover how they can use it and realise for themselves the value add.
Somewhere between the paranoid and the gung-ho storm chasers, you will find a crowd that is willing to peacefully co-create with neural networks. After all, AI is not a replacement for human intelligence (or creativity), but rather a powerful tool that can augment and amplify our capabilities.
And it is precisely our innate curiosity, puzzle-solving hacker spirit, that will truly shine with this technology. Using generative AI as an idea generator in the creative process might result in some unforeseen and fortuitous discoveries. This sense of thrill and surprise may encourage inquiry and lead to brand-new creative trajectories.
We may discover outlandish concepts, novel patterns, and reveal hidden connections sparking a cascade of fresh ideas, unexpected combinations, and inventive solutions while overcoming creative roadblocks. In other words, AI could be prompting us towards greater creativity and out-of-the-box thinking. It will provide the first rough sketches that we will polish, customise and infuse with our own unique, human sensibilities.
Whose prompt is it anyway?
Prompt engineering, or the art of interviewing a robot Larry King style, is big money right now. And in a bid to stretch the capabilities of AI tools even further, people have begun exploring the art of the super prompt, instructions that can run to many hundreds of words and are designed to force the AI to delve deep into its subconscious.
Seeing that we are trying to make generative AI think more like us, it makes sense to brush up on humanities subjects like epistemology, linguistics, theology, cognitive science and even dramaturgy.
Generative AI only gives the illusion of intelligence, but it is purely a probabilistic model, "stochastic parrots" that regurgitate their training data, as some have described it. It lives only to try and predict the next word. For any original thought, we still need to hang around.
Critical thinking, discernment and wisdom will prove essential in the AI age. We will not only need the skills and talent to give the optimal input, but also the ability to know what to do with the generated output. We will need our wits about us and stay sharp to avoid falling into the over-reliance trap that can lead to the atrophy of analytical skills.
Take the example of two New York lawyers who have been sanctioned after they submitted a legal brief that included six fictitious case citations generated by ChatGPT. Nobody will be able to say AI made me do it. We still carry the weight of responsibility and accountability, something the bot conveniently escapes. Don't ever forget that.
The Quality Assurance Agency recently published recommendations in which they urge universities to equip students with generative AI skills they can take into the world of work. They are encouraged to freely use AI models like ChatGPT in their studies, together with the proper fact-checking and attribution. There are university courses actively encouraging this now.
If tomorrow's workforce is already learning how to use it in their daily roles, it is only right that we learn and adapt with them – or else, we will be missing out or left behind if we don't.
More time to be more human
One of AI's biggest benefits, some believe, is that it will free up our precious time to pursue higher ideals. Although deep generative models are very promising, their objective is to mimic a dataset, and as we know, similarity isn't enough if you truly want to innovate. Just because we'll be using the same systems doesn't mean we'll be generating the same outputs. AI, in fact, suggests that we should challenge ourselves to do otherwise and make each result our own.
As engineers and designers, we often don't want to rehash a design that's already out there. What is exciting is that everyone will use generative AI differently, which means each person's experiments can generate unique innovations or value.
ChatGPT holds up the mirror to humanity. It might be considered clever and be able to produce incredible art, literature and music – but only we can burst into tears at the sight of sheer beauty or brilliance. We will always be the best at being humans than any other machine, computer or robot that we could ever create. If this works out as planned, our species could be prompted into being the best versions of ourselves. Imagine that.
