Prestojam

I’m scared of change. I mean, I never thought I was.

But the level of change that AI is bringing is on a whole new level. I never thought that the path I wanted to pursue would be taken over by computers. Of course, that never was completely out of the picture. Programming is the perfect ground for AI to excel in. Everything is logical with strict guidelines as to what and where each and every word should be. The subjectivity comes in styling decisions or the approach to which problem is solved, but that only really matters as long as humans will interact with the code. A future in which everything is generated by AI is not far. Not close, but definitely close enough to be a scary prospect. AI was supposed to be a beautiful piece of technology that enabled humans to reach new levels, so I suppose it is a little selfish to hope for the status quo to stay as it is— where AI may be good, but humans remain necessary.

Two signs, respectively saying 'one way' and 'or another'

Photo by Sophia Kunkel on Unsplash

Then again, this may just be short-sightedness.

Maybe AI was never going to fully replace humans in this line of work. Maybe, just like in 2023, then 2024, and 2025 again, those were just empty promises, driven by marketing teams that desperately wanted to catch up and become the next industry-standard. But regardless, you can’t deny the potential that AI has to become everything we ever wanted yet feared for. If you imagine this life as a video game, technology is like that boss at the end of the level. The one no one expected or prepared for, and thus, have no resources in place to combat it in an effective manner. Our societal structures aren’t ready for this kind of change. With different people on the frontlines arguing for different things, chaos is bound to ensue. An example of this unpreparedness is in our politics today. No one expected the very fundamentals of law and order to be challenged by the very person meant to be abiding by and enforcing it, yet here we are today. And the amount of disarray that can result from something or someone in a position no one envisioned would ever happen is massive.

It takes time before we can adapt and fight. In the video game, we must first realize the extent of our mistakes, take the damage, then go back and prepare, ready to fight another day. This is exactly what we’re seeing now where there has been much more pushback against harmful policies. Unfortunately, by the time we’re prepared again, the damage has already been done. Maybe the enemy has already destroyed parts of the world, or you’ve taken too much damage to recover. Maybe other players already died in the fight.

When a radical (relatively) technology gets introduced, society goes through a phase of adaptation. And that’s the one we’re in right now.

This phase is the messiest, most chaotic (and it isn’t helped by other players in the game that is politics), and there’s no guarantee that anything that rises from the ashes will be for the better.

I’m scared of change. I never thought I was...