Sitting with a group of friends this week I found myself involved in a discussion about the benefits and perils of AI – the dangers of over reliance on the one hand or, on the other, the competing perils of being left behind, less able to cope without the dominant technology. The threats to jobs and livelihoods and the potential for improved medical care, speedier responses.
Technology always seems to present these dilemmas, demanding to be embraced for good or ill. The combustion engine became central to life but also brought with it road deaths and environmental damage. The mobile phone is a handheld technological multitool which has also become central to life for most of us, but which can be addictive, destructive of social interaction, and plain irritating. The internet gives us access to so much which is helpful but is also a gateway for predators and fomenters of hatred and discord.
For good or ill, all these things are with us and while the internal combustion engine’s days may be numbered the other examples go from strength to strength. As far as AI is concerned, I’m a reluctant user. My reluctance is a result of a mix of natural caution, of a certain intrinsic Luddism, and a feeling that it involves a loss of control. Another instance of being in hock to the tech giants who seem uninterested in anything other than power and profit. But it’s here, and we have to come to terms with it.
Taking a step away from the commercial aspects, the impact on careers and livelihoods, the remorseless shift of control to the tech giants, I’ve been thinking about creativity. AI can write books, music, paint pictures and that feels threatening. Naturally these are all based on the harvested work of others, of human writers, musicians, artists and lack originality – itself a form of piracy – but the results can be impressive, no doubt more consistently as time moves on. I can’t see it as a replacement for playing, singing, writing, painting however – these are sources of joy which we will always crave, and for which there will always be demand. We’ll see how this develops.
In the meantime, most of us are innocents abroad, trying to make sense of it all, tempted by the treasure trove we’re promised, the tech equivalent of the house made of sweets which tempted Hansel and Gretel. And, like that house, there are dangers, predators, of which we need to be suspicious. The challenge is one of discernment.
Hansel and Gretel revisited
a boy
a girl
siblings locked
in sibling love
mutual care
protection
wander the wild
surrounded by threats
temptation
so much still beyond
comprehension
find a shelter
a haven even
appealing
constituted
of all they desire
and rush in
regardless of risk
ignorant of predators
ready to devour
rob them of their innocence
and benefit from doing so
waking to the danger
of malevolent intention
they become aware
of the need
with no adult intervention
to rescue each other
a job for which
they’re ill-prepared
so much still beyond
comprehension
absent parental attention
siblings locked in sibling love
rely on mutual care
a boy
a girl
