After a month of working with AI, here’s the reality. AI can serve reasonably acceptable data with basic prompts. Anything beyond that requires some working knowledge to inform the process. Writing, coding, research, hell, even basic math. I had to correct basic addition because it hallucinated the answer. Creative pursuits will be the same I would guess, though most I’ve not touched beyond the let’s make silly pictures night the evening before Atlas’ birthday. The truth is, it’s a mostly dull tool but it is on the grinder and won’t remain that way.
The other issue I found is limitations. So many limitations. I have been in tech spaces since the early to mid 90s and for that reason, I ended up building a 12 pipeline working system. Good thing too. There was a complete wreckage left of the working folders after a recent update. Always move anything you want to keep out of overwrite spaces. Still ended up being a hassle but very little was lost out of what could have been. I also keep an a/b saving system to seesaw between states so I have a backup that is only one step behind my current work. That’s an imperative for anyone that wants to build a meaningful system to work out of.
Is AI helpful though? If you can get through the teething, the tantrums, the took a few doses of blotter and don’t know where I am behaviors. Yes, it can be very helpful. Especially if you have difficulties with linear thinking, schedules and the like. If you know me even a little, you know my ADHD is both curse and boon. Using AI to adjust for my weaknesses produced an insane amount of output. I wrote a small “book”. I built two pieces of software. I built 8 websites. I made 10 resumes. I researched about a hundred conceptual money making avenues. I compiled 20+ years of writing from the nooks and crannies of email and facebook into a searchable archive. Then I turned it into a writes-almost-sorta-like-me system. No this particular piece of writing didn’t use it. Adjusting “almost” is more effort than doing it myself out the gate. I do however use it for things that pay me. Anyway, there’s a ton more honestly, but this isn’t about listing accomplishments. This is an assessment of the tool. It is significant.
Will it destroy humans fully? Absolutely. It’s an inevitability and the timer is shorter than most seem to realize. The ones who built and control it are aware of this. They simply don’t care. You have under 3 years to prepare. That’s generous and optimistic. That is when we become surplus to need across the majority of sectors. There will remain single spaces of operator positioning at that point, but the employment landscape will be devastated. This isn’t my sci-fi doom of machines taking over and solving for the equation of how to fix the planet’s problems - aka wipe out those pesky humans. This is the dull aspect of who moves warehouse boxes, mans the nuclear button and all points in between.
That’s the deal. All I can say is grab the bullhorns now, ride long as you can and try to have a soft spot to land when you are inevitably thrown to the ground.
Pandora lost her hold and that swarm of hell is encircling and closing in.