Digital Tools.

Saw the following article about the European Union this morning. I'm increasingly fascinated by topics like this: legislation may already be in place that could impact (stop or slow down) innovation before it happens: https://www.wired.com/2016/07/artificial-intelligence-setting-internet-huge-clash-europe/

Aaron Levie sums it up: "AI can seem dystopian because it's easier to describe existing jobs disappearing than to imagine industries that never existed appearing." https://twitter.com/levie/status/749754784840716290

Fear, fear of change, fear of the unknown, fear of not being able to keep up, fear mongered by those who say, "There's something going on." Understandable. Also understandable: the incumbents are usually in charge of the legislative agenda, and often put regulation in place to make it more difficult for new entrants to make inroads.

In spite of fear, the world has a higher standard of living than ever before. The percentage of those living in poverty is lower, year over year.

Contrast the fears in the EU with the USA. Also this morning, CBC Radio reported that the Dow and S&P 500 are at record highs. There are more people employed in that country today than ever before. The US unemployment rate is about 1/2 that of the EU. What are they doing differently?

Perhaps a key difference is the attitude toward embracing new tools . . . including digital tools. Each major stage in human development has included the embrace of better tools. The Stone Age. The Bronze Age. The Industrial Revolution.

Looking at today's technology through the lens of it being a tool, the perception changes slightly. How does this tool work? How do I learn how to use it? How could it make me more productive? If this were 100 years ago and I was living back on the family farm in Saskatchewan, I would be asking the same questions about farm implements. But I'm not. Most people aren't. Farming became more productive as new tools arrived. Fewer people farm in the USA and Canada as a percentage of the workforce than 100 years ago, yet more people have work.

Tools can be used for purposes other than for which they were intended. A shovel can be used as a weapon. A match can set curtains on fire. So there will need to be some compensating response, in the form of fire-retardant materials or prison sentences. And perhaps that's how the EU legislation is intended.

Once the new tool exists, it's not going away. We can pretend it doesn't exist. We can not use it. But others will. Farmers could still farm with horses and oxen if they wanted.

So maybe the question to the European Union is, "If you won't use the Artificial Intelligence tools for fear of them burning the curtains, what are you giving up in comparison to those people who are?" The Americans are going to use them. They already are. They're building the tools.

I too use the new AI tools every day through my personal and professional consumption of services from Facebook, Apple, Google, Amazon, and Microsoft (note: all US-based companies). They organize my photos. They help me structure my day. They suggest people in whose thoughts I may have an interest. They tell me which route to take. They suggest products I may want to purchase, or better yet, rent.

My life is better for these tools already. And I expect it to get better. That's what good tools do.