Lost in AI
The AI takeover has arrived and it’s backfiring
Many of the conversations I’ve have about AI falls mainly in one of two sentiments: (1) if you can’t beat them, then join them. or (2) tech is able to self-correct its own errors, if we give the industry more time. In case 1, there’s a proliferation of group think, where folks are set up to believe that they are joining an impactful cause in order to reach a common goal. Many folks of this sentiment are following the “leaders” in the tech industry with an astute fear of being left behind. To them, the perceived AI advancements are part of a competitive race and they don’t want to find themselves (as a person, member of a certain demographic group or country) in last place. That would be a failure and, as a consequence, they would see themselves as losers. In case 2, there’s an implicit and explicit trust given to the tech “leaders”, which amount to tech solutionism. Tech solutionism is the idea that tech can and will solve all problems. To them, tech is magic and it’ll eventually mature to a state of ‘doing the right thing’ in due time. These folks aren’t part of the group think mentality, rather they are waiting on the sidelines for the fix. And they’re confident that the fixes are imminent. In either case, there’s a certain comfortability in relinquishing authority, and as I regularly point out: humanity.
