I’m one of those people who believes this is the greatest time to be alive. Despite all the unbelievable challenges we are facing as human beings, we are at a moment in history where we have more knowledge and access to information than ever before, and incredible technologies are changing the way we live, communicate, work, socialize, etc…
Of all the technologies that are currently revolutionizing the world, none has changed so much society and the way we work in such a short time like Artificial Intelligence (AI) has. I personally see it as something exciting and fascinating because of all the possibilities that are available to creative professionals like myself but it does beg the question, where is all of this taking us? When you start to ponder on all the applications and the extent of the impact of AI on our daily lives, it does make you worry where AI will lead human civilization and how we should regulate it so a) it doesn’t get out of control and b) it doesn’t create an unsustainable socio-economical situation in which most of the world will soon be unemployed (even though I don’t necessarily see that as a bad thing but that’s a whole different conversation).
Digital technologies are inevitably replacing some of the tasks that were once performed by human labour, and I feel we should be alright with that as it is a clear sign of progress. Getting caught in ideas such as ‘this is so awful because it will get so many people unemployed’ is an absolute mistake and a counter-productive thought that will do a disservice to the future of humanity. Now, obviously, I understand it’s really hard for a lot of people to fully embrace something like AI if they there’s a real concern they soon might lose their job because of it but I will say until we demand, collectively, that we will have new debates to further the creation of more sustainable social platforms that will give people a safety net, such as a Universal Basic Income (which has been successfully tested in Finland and in several countries around the world), we will continue to have a growing unrest on the global population that doesn’t have to happen.
Despite my optimism about these technologies, it’s clear we need to have proper oversight and regulation on how we’re evolving and developing them. Companies like Adobe seem to be implementing more and more features that are AI-based and, even though it’s a bit annoying at times to have almost weekly updates because of this explosion of AI on almost every software on the planet, it’s also interesting to see how this will evolve tools that we have been using for years because the possibilities are almost endless and it will definitely make our work easier!
Now, we should also ask ourselves, do we want to be part of this AI revolution? Because at this point, I feel like we either ride this unstoppable wave and make the best of it or just keep complaining and doing nothing. The truth is, no matter how you see the whole thing, AI is here to stay, and we have to learn how to use it to the best of our abilities.
