Revolution Bigger Than the Internet: Generative AI

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I heard a powerful and unsettling analogy this week from an artificial intelligence (AI) expert. You know how humans don’t think much about ants because they’re so small and insignificant and don’t have any real sway in our lives?

The expert says this same, sort of, relationship could eventually crystallize in the relationship between AI and humans. We, humans, would become like ants, not even in a blip in the thought processes of AI machines, basically powerless and disregarded, unable to understand the machines just like ants can’t understand us.

This is a chilling thought. There are plenty more of these alarming potential scenarios when you delve deeper into comprehending just how impactful generative AI tools and capabilities are going to be.

A simple way to understand the magnitude of this changing paradigm is to consider that a generative AI tool can pass the bar exam, score very high on the SAT test, and have an IQ of around 155. Albert Einstein, one of the smartest humans ever, had an IQ of 160.

But this impressive AI is just starting to ascend to stratospherically smart levels. With each passing day, AI gets smarter – much faster than people do. In rough terms, generative AI will get twice as smart as it is now over the next few years, and so on, and so on, exponentially. There’s no stopping this progress.

What happens when machines are so much smarter than people? It’s a question on a lot of peoples’ minds and clearly, the most knowledgeable people don’t know how to stop this and are concerned about all the bad this could produce such as more widespread and harmful cyberattacks, battles among countries to lead in AI, and manipulation of elections – not to mention a further erosion in peoples’ trust of what they’re hearing, reading, and watching.

I asked a technical expert recently whether this generative AI phenomenon is going to have a bigger impact on our lives than the Internet. Without hesitating, he said yes.

And bigger than the search engine and iPhone.

This got my attention. We all know how big these technology explosions were; we better start preparing for a bigger explosion as generative AI permeates more of our home, working, and academic lives. Everything is going to change.

I am sharing this with you because I want you to appreciate how big this technological thunderbolt is going to be. The first wave has already crashed down on our shores. The waves are going to get bigger and more tumultuous. This ocean will get rough.

The technology is not all one big bummer. Some of this will help boost productivity and enhance our personalized experiences using technology. But there’s another side that we all need to be preparing for: loss of control, being manipulated like never before, and the erosion of human beings’ feelings of self-worth.

What to do: Two actions to consider: first, start using generative AI. The longer you wait the further you’ll fall behind and the more vulnerable you’ll be to losing your job or being behind society. But be cautious when you use it. Don’t type personal information you don’t want public in a generative AI question prompt because that data can ultimately be used against you or your family. Second, start upskilling now. Study carefully the jobs that are likely to be eliminated by generative AI. Understand what it can do. And start training yourself to develop skills that generative AI won’t be able to do.

What are those skills? Right now it’s not obvious, but it’s time to figure that out. Make that your mission. Get ahead. Protect yourself. Preserve your career and autonomous opportunities to live life fulfilled.

The more you know about generative AI, the more you use it, and the smarter decisions you’ll make to capitalize on its benefits and detect and avoid its threats to your quality of life.