Start listening

The narrative around AI is complicated. And some of it falls into a justified category. Tech billionaires who make big promises to change the world that will ultimately lead to more ads to sell. That’s one fair criticism of why someone should be skeptical. Another is the history. It took 50 years to get electricity to become more accessible after it was invented. Technology takes time to adopt. And of course, everyone is wondering whether this is a bubble.

All of these are fair criticisms. What I fear, though, is that the criticism I’m seeing comes from a place of fear and tired. Tired from coming off a pandemic to see more change coming. Fear that this change may lead to losing my job or changing my industry forever. Tired of having to learn a new technology or a new job, for that matter. What does this mean for my kids down the road? And so on.

Again. All these criticisms are valid. But let’s call them what they are: the fear of more change in a world that feels too broken to fix. Another Tuesday and another existential threat to face. After a while, it can be deflating. To the point, we don’t care much anymore.

While I’m skeptical of the big promises AI is making, it certainly does more than the first version did.

If you haven’t played with AI in a while, you should try it again. In a matter of months, hallucinations are down. You can turn speech into good code. And have projects going off the ground.

Imagine, for a moment, that someone told you the internet was going to be the next big thing, and you did nothing. Actually, that was most of us. If only we knew what we now. The same was said about electricity, the smartphone, and email.

Hear this: we are being told that new technologies that have revolutionized the world, like the internet, are coming before they arrive. I would start listening and start learning how to get good at it.