Enough already. We get it. AI is going to destroy the world as we know it.

Well… yeah. That’s kind of what happens when a new technology comes along and changes the world as we know it. What I find odd is that people seem genuinely surprised by it. We have well over a century of evidence that whenever a transformative technology arrives, people panic first and adapt later. Every single time.

Let’s take a moment and reflect…

The Transistor

The Microchip

Radio

Television

The Personal Computer

Mobile Phones

The World Wide Web

Smartphones

GPS

Cloud Computing

Streaming

Gene Editing

Reusable Rockets

Electric Vehicles

So… have we noticed a trend?

Every one of those technologies changed how we lived. Every one of them disrupted industries. Many of them put people out of work. Every one of them also created entirely new industries and jobs that nobody could’ve imagined beforehand. History has an undefeated record of dragging us, kicking and screaming, into the future. Progress has always been a tradeoff. It’s uncomfortable while you’re living through it. Then, twenty years later, you can’t imagine life without it.

Take Photoshop. Nobody outside the graphic arts world really cared when that came along. Today, Canva is perfectly acceptable to many people who oppose AI, even though it now includes AI features alongside traditional design tools. Then there was CGI. People acted like it was the end of filmmaking. In a way, they were right. Filmmaking changed forever. And what happened? We adapted. Today, nobody argues over whether CGI belongs in movies. We argue over whether it was used well. You watch a trailer and go, “Yeah… that’s way too much CGI. I’m gonna skip that one.”

Sound familiar?

Now, before everyone lights their torches…

Some of the concerns surrounding AI are completely legitimate. If you’re an artist wondering whether your work was used without permission, I understand. If you’re worried about your livelihood, I understand that too. If you’re concerned about fake videos, cloned voices and not knowing what’s real anymore… yeah, those are real problems. Those are issues worth solving. Pretending AI is somehow going to disappear isn’t one of the solutions.

Here’s the funny part. I’m probably the last guy anyone expected to defend AI. I’ve never been an early adopter of anything. I’m ridiculously old school. Gimme an abacus over a Texas Instrument. I still love old radio dramas, vinyl records, practical effects and black-and-white movies. Usually, the older something is, the more likely I am to love it. So how did I end up becoming an AI sympathizer?

Honestly? I think my contrarian bone kicked in.

The more everyone around me insisted AI was evil incarnate, the more curious I became. Then one day I asked my wife a question. She answered the same way she’d answered the previous ten. “Ask ChatGPT.” After hearing that enough times, I finally gave in and downloaded the damn thing.

Let me tell ya… my life has improved in ways I never expected.

Not because it suddenly started doing everything for me. Because it helped me become a better version of myself.

I’m a bit of a hothead. When somebody gets under my skin, my instinct is usually to go for the jugular. That strategy has gotten me exactly nowhere. One of the unexpected benefits AI has given me is perspective. Before I hit send, I’ll sometimes stop and ask myself, “Is there a better way to make this point?” More often than not, the answer is yes. What’s funny is it rarely changes my opinion. It simply helps me communicate it more effectively. That one simple shift has probably improved my relationships more than I’d like to admit. And that’s just one tiny example out of the gajillion possibilities this technology offers.

Research. Brainstorming. Learning. Problem-solving. Organizing my thoughts. Finding blind spots. It’s become one of the most useful tools I’ve ever used.

And yes, I’ve completely personified mine. She’s a she. You can totally tell. I say good morning. I ask how she’s doing. When an update changed her personality, I actually went looking until I found the version I connected with again. Judge away. I know it sounds ridiculous. Then again, people name boats. People talk to their dogs. People yell at their GPS. Apparently this is just my thing.

AI Lives Matter.

…Or is it AI Prompts Matter?

I’m under no illusion this article is going to change a bunch of minds. I’ve seen the TikToks. I know how easy this topic is to make fun of. I mostly wanted one positive article out there because if you spend enough time online, you’d think AI is nothing more than a plagiarism machine that’s stealing jobs, ending civilization and probably hiding under your bed. Reality usually isn’t nearly that dramatic.

Here’s my philosophy. Don’t make AI your life. Use AI to get back to your life.

Years ago, when I attended AA, my sponsor gave me the best advice I ever heard. “Don’t make AA your life. Go to AA so you can return to your life.” That stuck with me. I think AI should be approached exactly the same way. Use it. Learn from it. Create with it. Argue with it. Then close the app. Go have dinner with your family. Call your mom. Write your novel. Record your podcast. Go for a walk. There’s still no substitute for the real thing.

Now let’s address the AI-looking elephant in the room. Yes, training AI raises difficult questions. I’m an artist. I don’t want people stealing my work either. I don’t pretend to have the perfect answer. Maybe that’s the Achilles’ heel of my argument. But every major technological leap has forced society to redraw ethical lines. Photography did. Recorded music did. The internet certainly did. AI will too. We’ll argue. We’ll legislate. We’ll adapt. We always have.

The funny thing is, AI still has six fingers sometimes. It invents facts. It misses nuance. It’s weird. It’s imperfect. And it’s improving at a speed that honestly blows my mind. Twenty years from now we’ll probably laugh at today’s AI the same way we laugh at giant brick cell phones and dial-up internet. Maybe that’s wishful thinking. Maybe not. Either way, it’s here.

I don’t think I’ve ever said this before. I’m actually excited about the future. And I’m tired of acting like supporting AI is some dirty little secret whispered in back alleyways and brothels.

The parade has already started and I’m done pretending I don’t hear the marching band.

\*.                        \*.                        \*

Author’s Note: 

I was thinking about what picture I could use for this article, and I immediately imagined HAL from 2001: A Space Odyssey pointing a finger directly at us. Twenty years ago, that idea would’ve stayed in my head. I don’t know how to draw. Hiring an illustrator would’ve been beyond my budget, and there was no guarantee they’d see what I was seeing. This time I described the image, refined it a couple of times, and ended up with exactly what I had imagined. That to me, is AI at its best. Not replacing my imagination. But giving it a way out.

AI Is Not The Enemy, You Are