Assessing the Impact of AI
Dystopian Doom, or the Shift to a New Golden Age?
Over the last couple of decades or so, we’ve seen lots of tech ideas emerge and thrive. Yet, sometimes many seem to fall short of their promise. AI, once relegated to science-fiction novels and the wet dreams of Silicon Valley, is now ubiquitous. It’s in everything from your email to your kid’s homework help to the recommendation engine in every media tool you use. But you may still wonder: What the hell is AI exactly?
You’ve been burned by tech before. Remember “Big Data”? Or “Machine Learning”? And my favorite, “Web3”? They all seemed so revolutionary — until they weren’t. Is AI another one of those overhyped ideas? Most of the time it feels like a vague concept, completely as oversold as its predecessors. And the skepticism is still pervasive. AI is just another term to send CEOs and CTOs scrambling to install some algorithm; bravely entering the next frontier of computing.
Rewind back to the early 2010s. You’ll find a world split on AI. One faction, Nick Bostrom’s Superintelligence in 2014 stirs up visions of terminator-style rogue machines taking over the world. Humans become pets. And in 2018, Kai-Fu Lee releases AI Superpowers, highlighting China’s weaponizing of AI for the 1984=like surveillance State; while the rest of the world sits idly by twiddling their thumbs.
Both books were on to something real but missed the point. Fast forward to today, and the AI now changing the game isn’t plotting our demise (yet) or spying on us (well, maybe a little). It’s learning to talk. Enter the large language models (LLMs) like ChatGPT. This is AI that can chat, write essays, create images, and maybe even outdo your next therapy session.
We need a conversation shift. We’re not just debating a dystopian future or mass surveillance. We’re grappling with the everyday implications of AI acting, sounding, and even feeling human. We’re midway across the uncanny valley.
Is there a catch? Maybe?
First up is the jobs. Will AI replace human labor or enhance and compliment it? This it’s not a hypothetical question. It’s happening now. From copywriters to customer service reps, or data analysts, AI is blurring the lines between what’s human and what’s machine-made. We are going to have to rethink the workforce — and quickly.
Show me the money!
Of course there’s the big question tech investors always circle back to: money. AI’s sexy and all, but can it pay the bills? Peter Thiel looks back at the late 1990s dot-com boom for a comparison. Like the internet back then, AI today has enormous potential, but that doesn’t mean profits are rolling in. Everyone’s experimenting, but few are cashing out.
Except Nvidia. Peter Thiel says they’re the outlier, and they’ve found their way to the top of the AI heap. While other companies are tripping over themselves to figure out AI’s profitability, Nvidia’s raking it in. Their chips are powering most of the AI revolution. Right now they look like a monopoly. If so, how long can they stay on top?
In the end, you’re not just witnessing the next industrial revolution; you’re watching what it means to create, work, and even exist as a human, be redefined.
Yes, AI is really ushering in a Golden Age, but who’s really striking gold?