We shape our tools and thereafter our tools shape us.
– Marshall McLuhan
More and more people are getting dependent on AI tools for doing smaller things. From writing work emails to choosing what to have for lunch, tasks are becoming harder to complete without the assist of LLMs.
When people think of a dystopian future controlled by Artificial Intelligence, they expect something like Skynet . But if such a future truly comes, I suspect it’d probably be much closer to today than The Terminator.
The outsourcing of thought. As people let machines do the thinking for them, we’ve come to become passive identities not even capable of thinking without any outside help. Where is this trend headed?
Paradoxically, as increasingly powerful automation tools drive the surge in human productivity, humans have become less capable. Consider the number of employees capable of crafting a nice email without LLMs, or the number of developers who could write a JSON parser without code autocomplete (just by reading the API Docs! really?).
So here comes the question of then what. In an increasingly AI-dependent world, what should I do to extend my abilities? Which strengths do I need?
Since then I’ve come up with two different approaches:
A) Learn to work without tools.
This doesn’t necessarily mean ditching every single task-automation or AI productivity tool. It simply means using them only for what I can already do by myself. So everything could stay under my control. This would be both a huge advantage and a disadvantage at the same time – when others crank out their essays at the click of a mouse, I’d be fiddling with subtle expressions or buried in books somewhere in the library. It’d be a hard path. And this option would face the concern that it attempts to run against the advancements of technology.
B) Learn to work with tools.
We have the new technology – why not embrace it? This option inherently entails heightened dependence on these so-called tools; instead of only automating what I could have done without AI, I could start doing things I wouldn’t have been able to! Hugely enhanced productivity is anticipated, but more risk as well.
Not so long ago, everyone was freaking out on Reddit when ChatGPT suddenly went out of service. If something similar happens again? or if inference providers suddenly decide to charge more for their services(or more realistically, phase out their free tiers or usage without logins) - Do I have to pay more? External dependencies bring in all sorts of risks. Understanding those risks and managing them would be a critical part of my job.
The conclusion seems rather obvious; choosing either side (and ditching the other) is too dangerous an option. So I chose to take a hybrid approach: embrace technology, but acknowledge its limitations. To keep my abilities from becoming over-reliant on AI tools, I should train my muscles of active thinking.
I figured I’d start to:
- Write. Without the assist of AI, get some time to ponder on some subject for some time, and practice writing on my own. Like how I’m doing right now as I write this article! (This blog maintains a No-AI Policy.)
- Read. AI-generated content is bite-sized snippets, but getting used to those would degrade my abilities of finding information by myself. Search for human-written text. Even if it’s a bit long, or a classic. I need this ability to retrieve information from raw material.
- Think. There are few things more stupid than staring at my phone while walking. Whenever I stroll around, ride a bus, or have noting in particular to do, embrace daydreaming. Better thoughts need some processing time to emerge.
I feel writing posts like these often quite guide me to see my weaknesses. But it’s much important to contemplate on what needs to be done for self-improvement as well. Especially so as to become one with his unique strengths.