Category: Change

What Is Legitimate Use Of Artificial Intelligence?

There are many pros and cons in the emerging field of artificial intelligence.  How should the technology be used in the most ethical way?

The potential benefits of artificial intelligence, or AI, are enormous. In theory, it could be a tool used by people across the world to enhance their own talents and abilities.

At the same time, there also some real concerns. Transformative technology, like AI, can be incredibly disruptive. While it could add value to some human work, it may very well replace others. There could be massive job loss, leaving millions of people with no obvious prospects.

Making that problem even worse, it may be that using artificial intelligence will negatively impact the intellectual development of the next generation. Thinking skills are never fully realized, the theory goes, when entire assignments can be completed with the click of a mouse.

And then there is the environmental impact. AI agents are powered by massive data centers, which use a disproportionate amount of energy and water resources, and may well divert those same resources from human communities in regions of scarcity.

There are additional worries as well. For example, some people are already displaying an unhealthy attachment to AI chatbots. Also, how should we compensate the writers and artists whose work is used to train AI? Should the use of AI in the creative process be disclosed?

With all these concerns, there is a question of exactly how artificial intelligence can be used to minimize these concerns or risks. How can AI be incorporated into everyday life while maintaining intellectual honesty, and supporting our economy rather than destroying it?

Related questions: What do you think about artificial intelligence? Is technology neutral? What role does technology play in your life? What skills have you lost due to technology?

What Makes You Come Undone?

Imagine this: your life is busy, but under control. Something happens, though, and everything spirals until you’ve come undone. One event, one that you could have otherwise handled easily, makes everything fall apart. What causes that?

For the most part, human beings are pretty adaptable. As long as the change is not too sudden, we can absorb remarkable changes in our environment.

Take the news, for instance. As recently as a few decades ago, we got our news from newspapers once a day, and a half hour of national news and an additional half hour for local news on TV. That was it!

Now, there are multiple 24-hour news stations, and tuning in to one provides an incredible amount of information all at once. An on-screen anchor is delivering an opinion, or conducting an interview. Chyrons appear regularly to recap what is being discussed. A ticker of other headlines runs across the bottom of the screen. There might also be weather alerts, sports scores, stock market updates, or additional information flashing somewhere on the screen.

It’s a lot to take in, but we do it fairly easily. Our focus can’t be everywhere all at once, but we figure out what is most important to us, and jump around as necessary.

However adaptable we are, there are limits. We can be overwhelmed, with our ability to switch from topic to topic swamped with information. And once we reach that saturation limit, it feels like everything comes undone and we can’t do anything. All but the most simple tasks escape us.

Are there triggers of this type for you? Sometimes it is just a matter of one random thing being one too many. But there might also be a recognizable action that causes you to struggle. Can you think of what yours might be?

Related questions: What do you do when you feel overwhelmed? Is our attention fractured? Are we too busy? How do you find peace when you need it?

 

What Is Too Much To Accept?

Sometimes, events reach a breaking point when you simply cannot stand what is happening. What is too much to accept?

For some people, change is uncomfortable. As a result, there are many people who like the status quo. They prefer things stay the way they currently are.

Of course, the world is constantly in flux. Things change all the time. However, in order to preserve the status quo, you must be able to deal with that change.

As a result, there are people who can ignore, minimize, or otherwise accept the new conditions. Often, the introduced changes are small in nature, which makes it relatively easy to adapt to them.

These small changes, though, add up over time. Eventually, the sum total becomes cumulatively so large that these techniques used to adapt start to break down. The new situation is too much to deal with.

For example, let’s imagine you have a job. You like most things about the job — the hours, the coworkers, the commute, the pay. There might be a few things that frustrate you, but you can deal with them.

Over time, though, things change. You don’t get a raise due to company cutbacks. Your closest friends leave for other jobs. You get a new boss who expects you to put in more hours. The office relocates even further away.

You can deal with any one of these things. But over time, they add up. At some point, it gets to b too much, and you decide to start looking for a different job.

How do you make that decision? When will you know that you are no longer able to justify what is happening, and you need the status quo to change. And what lengths will you go to in order to make that happen?

Related questions: What is necessary to change your mind? When have you had a sudden change of viewpoint? What makes change possible? How do you set priorities?

When Have You Had A Sudden Change Of Viewpoint?

As humans, we try to be consistent. However, sometimes circumstances lead to a sudden change of perspective. Has this happened to you?

One reason why this sudden change might occur is simply through collecting additional data. You might start out believing, say, that Columbus discovered America. You add more information to the picture, and then finally some piece of data makes you realize that it isn’t true.

Another way is a sudden re-framing of the data you have. An example of this is the move ‘The Sixth Sense’ with its twist ending. The revelation makes you reinterpret what happened all throughout the movie.

Sometimes, you can change your mind just by thinking about the situation. You might just realize — by yourself or with the help of someone else, like a therapist — that you were simply wrong. You never bothered to examine your beliefs, or were blinded by emotion or fear, or some other reason. But suddenly your error is exposed, and it changes how you think.

There are other ways you might change your mind quite suddenly. Has it happened to you? What led to the change? And how did you change the way you think about similar things because of it?

Related questions: What is necessary to change your mind?What beliefs do you have that might be wrong?How do you adopt new ideas?

How Are You Impacted By The Time Change?

For most Americans, this last weekend saw the ending of Daylight Saving Time and clocks shifted by an hour. How has the time change impacted you?

Share why if you wish.