Best Guess on AI

Best Guess on AI

Plastics!  The more I learn, the more I inevitably talk about AI, the more I feel like Mr. McGuire in The Graduate, telling a young Benjamin Braddock (aka Dustin Hoffman) the future is Plastics.  Except that, in my opinion, plastics are cool, and artificial intelligence is the future.  I do recognize that when I bend someone’s ear on the topic, I feel like an insane person talking about flying cars, time travel, and a robot in every house (actually, 2 of those 3 are currently in development).  Regardless, there is a lot of speculation and conjecture on the topic, so I figured, why not throw my hat in the ring on wackos commenting on the future of AI.

The Future of AI

I’ll start by stating no one has any clue what the future with AI looks like.  I’ll start with a few quick theories I don’t believe are the base case, but certainly can be a reality.  Let me also preface that I am not an expert, but I am well read on the topic, a heavy user, and joined an AI collaborative that keeps me very much involved in the topic.  Alright, enough chatter, let me opine.

What I don’t believe AI will turn into:

1. End the world!  I’ll start with the good news and that is I don’t believe AI is going to take over the universe, and no one will have jobs, and we will all live in this utopian society dominated by robots and artificial intelligence.  This may seem like an obvious comment to many, but let me tell you, there is a large contingent of very well-versed AI experts who legitimately have this fear.  They believe the number one risk to human life forms is AI.  These people are much smarter than I, but at this point, I simply can’t connect those dots from this technology to the end of life as we know it.
2. No big deal!  Next, I don’t believe AI is ho-hum, no big deal, and simply the next new technology thing.  I’ve had many conversations with people in all job categories, and those who think it won’t affect them, I believe, are going to be seriously mistaken within 5 years.  I am of the mindset that if you put your head in the sand or ignore, this will be worse than your colleague knowing how to operate a computer, and you deny its efficacy while continuing to work on a pad and paper.

What do I believe AI will turn into:

This leads us to my belief about where AI is heading and what to do about it.  Now, I stated above that it isn’t the end of the world, but it also isn’t something to be ignored.  I’ve also written that I firmly believe it is the next big thing and truly the next revolution, akin to industrial, mechanical, etc.  I believe that there will be two groups of people in the future, the haves and the have-nots.  Said differently, those that flourish and embrace this technology and those that are left behind, licking their wounds.  I can’t imagine a future where this isn’t an enormous part of all of our daily lives and a huge enhancer to those who lean in.  I think those who ignore it will be replaced, and those who embrace it will see a level of productivity, efficiency, and output, and allow us to provide products and services that could never have been dreamed of before. 

I think it is the ultimate tool and superpower for individuals and businesses to operate at almost an unimaginable level.  That said, I still believe it is, at the end of the day, a tool, albeit an extremely powerful one at that.  I don’t think it will replace us, but I do think it will be the great enabler.  I liken it to giving me a hammer and a nail, and a master carpenter.  One will have a house built in a month, and the other will have a crooked picture hung at best.

I believe knowing how to yield this tool and master it will lead to that stark a difference and that we will still need specialists in the world who can use this tool to maximize their expertise and profession.  Not only that I believe the change is happening exponentially faster than anyone can imagine.

My call to action

 I’ll leave you with my call to action, yet again.  Don’t run from this tech, don’t hide from it, and most importantly, don’t ignore it.  If you haven’t, it is time to lean in and start messing around to begin to unlock the powers for you.  Seeing is believing, and I challenge you to download an LLM like ChatGPT or whatever and simply go back to your days as a kid.  Start messing around with it and breaking a few eggs.  This way, you can begin your journey to see how it will be a huge lift in your life, and you can stay relevant through whatever this thing will inevitably be.

Alright, back to my UFO’s and searching for Big Foot.  Hope you enjoyed this blog and stay wealthy, healthy, and happy.