ChatGPT Is Making YOU Lazy!
I miss de good ole days when people actually used their brains.
Today with social media’s AI tools and ChatGPT, using your brain has become old-fashioned. Migration what! This is the real reason Trinidad and Tobago is on the brink of a brain drain, we’re outsourcing our intellect to artificial intelligence. November 3rd, 2023, was the tipping point when ChatGPT became the go-to for analyzing…well, anything, really. The handwriting was on the wall.
And this erosion of critical thinking is mirrored in how we now communicate.
10 months later, a whitewashed way of speaking has entrepreneurs and the self-employed sounding the same! In a choir full of small service businesses it’s difficult TO STAND OUT when YOU ALL SOUND THE SAME.
No problem! This growing dependence on AI tools like ChatGPT has deformed how we think too. If a business is in need of some personality in its marketing or a talking point for filler it’s an article away — why bother developing your own thoughts and ideas when you can piggyback on someone who has already done the heavy lifting for you?
That is how far humanity has fallen from what it means to be a human being. God said we are fearfully and wonderfully made. But in such a short time, agency over our own thoughts and ideas is now no longer valued because we’re in the age of machines.
From our credit cards to the tools we use to execute our services online, we’re all in some shape or form a part of this digital world — but at what cost? Look at what we’re losing. For years, I was told how to feel and what to think. I’m never going back!
Do you remember how easy it was to recall phone numbers before cell phones? Or when children did mental math before calculators and doctors relied on their experience for diagnoses before the age of Google? Now professors complain about entire assignments being completed by ChatGPT.
So yes, “we’ve advanced technologically”, but we’ve paid a high price for it.
A Tool Is Only As Useful As The Competency Level Of The Person Using It
We’ve lost something deeply human — our ability to think critically, creatively, and independently. Right now, small service businesses in Trinidad and Tobago are either instructing AI tools like ChatGPT to rewrite something they scribbled down and create 15 pieces of content from it or sharing some hack to determine if their visual brand aligns with their brand. Personally, my conviction is that ChatGPT didn’t give me my brand — my ideal clients did. So I’m not dependent on it to validate anything about my services.
AI tools, despite being efficient, lack the human touch that creates the emotional connection. When small business owners hand over their voices to these tools without factoring in the unique nuances of their brand and their ideal client, they’re sacrificing what makes them stand out and relatable. It’s no wonder everything sounds the same these days.
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And precisely why nothing local inspires me. Everyone who knows me knows this about me. 7 years ago I felt the same way and nothing has changed. So while many local influencers, content creators, and business owners swapped their brains for ChatGPT, I instead use it to analyze its analysis of other people’s thoughts and ideas who are credible so I can strengthen my talking points.
It’s not shocking to observe how clueless this tool is without very specific considerations about the business, the brand and its niche imputed to it because its limitation is mentioned in the fine print. But, shockingly, no one factors this in when placing the weight of making important decisions about their brand on the “shoulders” of this tool…that by the way interestingly gave this article a 10 out of 10.
Exhibit A
ChatGPT Is Also Making People Delusional
Doubling back around to the visual brand hack. Concern about the visual brand is a sign (to me) that there is a deeper issue with the brand. One reflects the other, see? The brand comes first and the visual brand is created after. The brand is the foundation of everything!
I heard a local saleswoman say the messaging is the foundation of the brand. Nope! The brand is the foundation!
But experience would have me believe that this isn’t about “using color purposefully” — it’s not about trust. It’s about appearing trustworthy because ignorance is bliss in Trinidad and Tobago.
I can write or say something that was created based on real experiences. Someone can memorize that and regurgitate it or copy and paste it into ChatGPT to rewrite it so they sound insightful, and no one would suspect (until it’s too late) that they’ve never branded anything in their life. And they would go on believing they have this insight.
The level of damage mentally, I can’t do that to myself.
Architectural designer, 3d visualizer @Contemporary Design Studios Ltd
1 周As a designer i too see the potential impact that ai will have on my industry but it does not scare me because the human elemnt is vital and necessary. We dont oull designs out of the sky but we sit with the client and have a discussion with them both on the project and their needs but also, just to chat, and a simple conversation can add so much to figuring out the clients needs as well as their specific tastes and style. So ai to me is just another tool in the tool box to be used symbiotically with my personally developed talents but not as an answer or excuse, to, as you said not use our brains.
Freelance Digital Media Producer
3 周Very interesting read Ciji! I understand your pov. I have begun incorporating AI tools into my workflow but I still do a lot of thinking and researching of my own, I never fully rely on the information it gives to me. It still generates erroneous content and the generative fill feature annoys me sometimes. Ideally I use it to help me with the parts of my work process I enjoy the least and so it's become a useful tool for me as an entrepreneur.
Senior Managing Director
3 周Ciji Shippley Fascinating read. Thank you for sharing
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3 周This article is very important at this time because i too believe that people really no longer think for themselves, which is why these types of Ai tools are taking over in terms of people using it to avoid doing the 'work!' .... lazy is an under statement, when this is also damaging to those in industries who are genuine! Has experience and results to back up what they are saying or offering . Not only that alot people will lose money when investing in learning or in purchasing because they are fed a bunch of false narrative created by an AI ...well we are certainly in the digital age but it doesnt mean we as human should also become robots because seems like that’s what we want to become, when we disregard the use of our brains our minds an ability to think for ourselves. - The mind is indeed a terrible thing to waste