A.I. is cool, Right? Right, A.I. is cool?

I recently participated in an entrepreneur workshop, on how cool A.I. was and how it can benefit small businesses. Our (entrepreneurs) pre-work was to give a 2-3 paragraph synopsis of our business concept. Understanding how challenging the early development stages can be for new entrepreneurs-the presenter offered to give us an A.I. generated synopsis of our business, to demonstrate the power of A.I. and to give us a new tool to add to our business toolbox.

The presenter said that he input a few key words about our concepts into an A.I. application and asked it to generate a synopsis. He promised that we’d be amazed by the power of A.I., to better articulate our business concepts than we could. His disclaimer-“If by chance there’s not much of a difference between the A.I. synopsis and your original work then that means that your thoughts are unclear and A.I. could not make sense of your concept.”

My A.I. generated synopsis came back exactly the same as I wrote it. Contrary to what He said, it wasn’t because my thoughts were unclear.

In grad school I once wrote a paper with no references. My professor handed it back with a “F”. Her note at the top of the page-“Where are your references”. It wasn’t that the information was wrong or poorly written-the problem was that I hadn’t found a voice to credit. I learned a lesson-original thinking is not the goal.

I perceived, like the professor that gave me an “F”, this presenter was suggesting that we needed help thinking. I was triggered, because I like thinking. Full transparency-I get butterflies and glitter inside my stomach whenever I accomplish thinking independently. Sometimes I phone a friend to tell them all about the experience. (My perception) In college, I was being told that I couldn’t outthink outdated schools of thought, and now I was being told that I couldn’t outthink a software (programmed by outdated schools of thought).

What is artificial intelligence? I’m not gonna tell you. You’re going to tell You. Artificial means? Intelligence means? While the English language is riddled with word games, really quickly you should gather that artificial intelligence isn’t higher intelligence. It’d be called “advanced intelligence” if it were.

In fact, A.I. is just a regurgitation of intelligences that’ve been siphoned from the minds and opinions of smart people into “the cloud”. I imagine it’s mostly from a bunch of old white men, because historically that’s how America collects and hands down information. Plus, A.I. tone is a bit stiff and wordy. Truth is, (non-white old man) if you’ve ever uploaded an academic paper to the internet (originality check) you’ve likely contributed to the A.I. program.

I know what they told you, but computers aren’t smart. Not naturally. They’re programmed by smart humans. This deserves a longer conversation, but A.I. needs You. We teach and power it with our input. Don’t believe me? Set your device down and wait for it to stop moving. Now, ask it to go take the dog for a walk. See, it can’t perform a simple task without you.

The presenter later joked that A.I. is the result of old California techies sitting in a dark room in the valley uploading their intelligences to the cloud. In one foul swoop, he disclaimed, promoted, and disproved the validity of A.I. with a casual old white man snicker. And, in case you missed it old grad school professor, I am crediting this fella for acknowledging the source of artificial intelligence. Why is this important? It’s important because having the computer copy your homework is a sign that your intelligence isn’t artificial. And because it’s important to know the responsibilities we have in what happens next, because of artificial intelligence.

Is there value in A.I.? Plenty, but mostly artificial. I won’t use A.I. because I beat the computer. My concept was unclear because it was original. I had suggested a business venture that A.I. hasn’t been programmed with. Another truth-when artificial intelligence hits a wall it recommends the original.

The computer needs our content and engagement to thrive. Automation seems really cool at a gas station or fast food restaurant, but what we don’t see are the adverse outcomes-unemployment, artificial service, lazy thinking, complete loss of privacy, and the rise in crime. And, do you really want a robot massaging you?

This also needs a longer conversation, but Covid raised a new thought-“essential”. What work and what workers are essential to society? I won’t do all the work for you, but researchers and scientists warn that A.I. is creating a new social class called the “useless class”. The evolution of this new class depends on how fast A.I. advances.

At this point we have two reasonable choices-1. resist A.I. and prevent the exploitation and ostracism of the working and thinking class, or 2. welcome A.I. with open arms while we collectively go frolicking through the Caribbeans. Now that I think it out loud…disregard all of it. Carry-on with the A.I. revolution.

Frolicking in the Caribbeans is - TherapeuticLiving.