When I was young and starting out with computers, programming, BBS’ and later the early internet, technology was something that expanded my mind, helped me to research, learn new skills, and meet people and have interesting conversations. Something decentralized that put power into the hands of the little guy who could start his own business venture with his PC or expand his skillset.
Where we are now with AI, the opposite seems to be happening. We are asking AI to do things for us rather than learning how to do things ourselves. We are losing our research skills. Many people are talking to AI’s about their problems instead of other people. And they will take away our jobs and centralize all power into a handful of billionaire sociopaths with robot armies to carry out whatever nefarious deeds they want to do.
I hope we somehow make it through this part of history with some semblance of freedom and autonomy intact, but I’m having a hard time seeing how.
Computers can and still do all that, you just need some mental discipline to avoid the cognitive equivalent of fast food being forced into your attention via AI slop and social media demagogues over corporate owned messaging systems.
But how many people are actually doing that? I reckon most people (myself included) don’t realise the extents of influence social media and other media outlets have on them, let alone act on that knowledge.