Don't Be a Weird Bird
The Cost of Instant Answers
I spend a lot of time talking about storytelling, curiosity, and compassion. A week ago, I found myself on a university panel discussing all three and how they intersect with artificial intelligence. Here are some of the thoughts I shared, I would like to know your thoughts as well.
It’s an interesting moment to be alive. Depending on who you ask, AI is either going to save us all or ruin civilization by Thursday. Most conversations land in one of two camps. The enthusiasts tell us it will revolutionize education, medicine, creativity, and productivity. The skeptics warn us about misinformation, job loss, privacy, deepfakes, and our growing dependence on machines.
I understand both sides.
But I keep coming back to a different concern. I don’t think the greatest danger of AI is that it may give us wrong answers. I think the greater danger is that it slowly changes our relationship with questions.
Curiosity begins with not knowing. It lives in the uncomfortable place of uncertainty. The uncertainty of, What am I missing? It asks, Why? It wonders and searches, What if? I need more info.
Artificial intelligence is astonishing. Ask a question, and within seconds, an answer appears. Need a summary? A draft? A list of possibilities? There it is. Useful? Absolutely.
But I wonder what happens when we become so accustomed to immediate answers that we lose our tolerance for not knowing. Curiosity lives in the space before the answer, and we are losing that space.
The best stories (and inventions, and relationships, and…) come from wrestling with problems, not having them solved immediately. Fast answers come with no roots. The wrestling and the wondering are how we become the best version of ourselves.
What happens when confusion becomes something to eliminate instead of explore?
What happens when we stop lingering long enough to become curious?
In a world increasingly designed to give us quick answers, how do we make sure we never lose our appetite for wonder?
My final thought: Receiving instant answers is like picking away the shell during hatching and not allowing the chick to fight their way out – they end up making it, but in a weakened state. I don’t want you to be a weird bird.
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I have just been taught by my granddaughters and their friends that the older generation is embracing AI much more than the younger one. They are aware of the ecological impact on the world and are afraid of losing their own creativity. I fear it for two other reasons. The first is that I worry that it will make person to person contact even more scarce. We need face to face interaction to grow, find joy along with hearing great truthful stories. Notice I did not say factual stories. The second is I notice some of my friends using to rewrite everything they write. I worry that they may start to feel that they are not “good enough”. That they need something to correct them and make them acceptable. I fear where that long road may take them.
I agree. AI is a blessing and a curse as are most things in life-big generalization here. However, I agree that instant answers are diminishing our attention span and reveling in wonder, anticipation and creativity. It's exciting and a little scary to see where AI is going to take us.