Forgiven but not Forgotten

The ChatGPT has intensified the discussion on how new technologies can be used to provide new skills for people, rather than simply replacing them.

Technology has been our response to surviving on this wondrous, often inhospitable pale blue dot called Earth.

So far, companies have used AI to perform various tasks faster and better, potentially increasing efficiency and productivity gradually. However, the net benefits may be small, as we are essentially doing the same things as before.

Yet, technology is not limited to doing what we have always done a little better or cheaper. It can give us the chance to completely change perspectives on innovation, organically.

In every waiting room, office, bank queue, and pub table, the most repeated topic is the rise of AIs.

The birth of this power, once known only in fiction, has brought a thick layer of fear and suspicion about the future, which now unfolds not in the "future" but in the intense friction between the moment we read news and its almost immediate demise, literally turning to dust between our fingers.

Every day brings something new, and we struggle to stay "ever-updated" or fully informed.

However, I believe we are not looking in the right direction.

All innovations, from the chipped stone, perhaps even before, bring both benefits and tragedies. Something to understand and forgive their consequences, as well as other things justifying their own history.

We must not forget how dependent we are on the journey of human innovation.

From time to time, the planet, in many and infinite ways, "tries to kill us."

It's a love-hate relationship.

It doesn't depend on us to survive, but the opposite is undeniably true. In this existential struggle, where we might be its best invention, a masterpiece of nature, a massive flood of adventures has taught us to adapt and get here, in this present moment.

Each idea shifts the compass needle, whether in personal microcosms or the general spectrum of humanity.

We won't stop inventing and creating.

That's our most distinctive essence. An ever-awake curiosity haunts us. We dream even when we are awake. The human spirit is more powerful than the very shell we use to transport it.

Digital intelligence can propel us toward an unimaginable sky, far beyond the planets visible to the naked eye or inconceivable standards of excellence.

We need new perspectives.

As Schopenhauer said, hitting the target that no one is seeing has become the great challenge of our generation. And artificial intelligences might be the miracle that saves us from mediocrity.

However, just as this novelty has the potential to rescue us from hells and catastrophes, it can, in many ways, put our survival at risk.

Its complexity and almost infinite powers give us a daunting array of options.

Are we prepared for this?

I even speak about people with intellectual baggage, individuals with enough repertoire to use the tool appropriately. Does a power like this demand only technical knowledge?

The mental health of individuals, within and outside companies and schools, will cope with this transition?

Do we have sensitivity, meaning, are our senses attuned to a level that will allow us to navigate safely with this Magic Lamp?

There are already studies showing how much we have been impacted by technology so far, with our attention in tatters and the process of critical thinking compromised due to the wild dance of all the algorithms invented until now.

Our brains, the home of our emotions, are in complete disarray, with billions of thoughts to be processed while new ones descend from the spout of the restless reality.

Without exception, the challenge for all endeavors will be the development of organic cultures in their organizational climates, privileging the Human Being in their deepest possibilities, where the best ideas and innovative solutions come from.

There will be no success, not even the infamous "profit," unless people find purpose, whether tightening screws or creating brilliant prompts.

Whether we embrace the green industry or opt for skyscrapers crowded with electronic devices, we still have to face the war being waged in people's minds, in how they process their thoughts and create ideas.

The history of innovation depends on how willing we are to forgive its impacts but also not forget to always be vigilant, remembering its risks and dangers.

The most extraordinary creation in the universe is still the human brain.

But this powerful half-kilogram gelatinous and gray mass is extremely fragile from the perspective of how we program it.

The discussion on how new technologies can enhance our abilities instead of replacing them is imperative and should have top priority.

Before specializing in digital minds, we must reconnect with our essence and relearn the most basic code of human nature. Without that, the future will remain an enigma, as it always has been, but this time, with cold equations trying to decipher it.

When we forget the past, the future does not forgive us.

Let's talk about it!