From Student Pilot Lab Rat to My "AI or Die" Book: FREE BOOK EXCERPT

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The lights went out. I sat alone in darkness, flight suit on, headset secured.

Through a small window before me lay what looked like a "box of light" – something straight out of science fiction.

"Look through the slit," came the instruction. "You'll see dots and dashes appear. Fix your eyes on them. Don't move your head."

I was their guinea pig – a team of PhDs using me to shape the future Air Force cockpit. Fresh from graduating the Air Force Academy, I had 90 days before pilot training began. It was either find something useful, or spend three months pushing paper.

My classmate Vicki saved me. She worked at the Air Force Research Lab, where they played with the most cutting-edge tech – early AI, eye-tracking, head-up displays. Thanks to her, I found myself staring into that mysterious box.

They wired me up with electrodes, tracking my brain while I ran flight simulations. They monitored my eyes in dark rooms, recorded my voice giving commands, had me explore an Internet that didn't yet exist for the public.

Those three months changed everything. I learned two crucial things: if you want to see tomorrow's technology, look at today's military. And nature holds the key – our planes mirror birds, our submarines echo whales.

The AI Revolution: How Military-Grade Tech Is Coming to Your Daily Life

The lights went out. I sat alone in darkness, flight suit on, headset secured. Through a small window before me lay what looked like a "box of light" – something straight out of science fiction.

"Look through the slit," came the instruction. "You'll see dots and dashes appear. Fix your eyes on them. Don't move your head."

I was their guinea pig – a team of PhDs using me to shape the future Air Force cockpit. Fresh from graduating the Air Force Academy, I had 90 days before pilot training began. It was either find something useful, or spend three months pushing paper.

My classmate Vicki saved me. She worked at the Air Force Research Lab, where they played with the most cutting-edge tech – early AI, eye-tracking, head-up displays. Thanks to her, I found myself staring into that mysterious box.

They wired me up with electrodes, tracking my brain while I ran flight simulations. They monitored my eyes in dark rooms, recorded my voice giving commands, had me explore an Internet that didn't yet exist for the public.

Those three months changed everything. I learned two crucial things: if you want to see tomorrow's technology, look at today's military. And nature holds the key – our planes mirror birds, our submarines echo whales.

The AI Revolution: How Military-Grade Tech Is Coming to Your Daily Life

Figure 1. While F-35 pilots see vital data through heads-up displays, we stare down at phones. AI agents are about to lift our gaze, giving us our own HUDs for everyday life. YouTube Screenshot from Aviation International News.

Imagine sitting in the cockpit of an F-35 fighter jet, where countless sensors feed real-time data about altitude, speed, location, and G-forces directly into your field of view. Now imagine having that same level of seamless, instantaneous information about your world as you walk down the street.?

Thanks to AI agents and advanced world models, this sci-fi scenario is about to become your reality.

The Great Divide: Fighter Pilots vs. Today's Computer Users

The Fighter Pilot's Edge

In a modern fighter jet cockpit, pilots operate in an environment of unprecedented technological integration:

• Continuous streams of sensor data feed directly into their view
• Voice commands and subtle gestures trigger instant responses
• AI systems process thousands of data points per second
• Heads-Up Displays (HUD) overlay critical information onto their field of vision

The Average User's Limitations

Meanwhile, most of us are still stuck in the digital dark ages:

• Typing at around 200 inputs per minute
• Manually navigating through apps and menus
• Describing what we see instead of showing it
• Constantly switching between devices and interfaces

The Coming Revolution: AI Agents and World Models

The gap between military-grade technology and consumer tech is about to close dramatically. Here's how:

Visual Recognition Meets AI

Just as Pokémon Go overlays digital creatures onto the real world, next-generation AI agents will understand what you're looking at in real-time. Spill wine on your carpet? Your AI assistant will see it through your glasses and instantly book a cleaner, negotiate prices, and schedule the service—all without you typing a single word.

Beyond Voice Commands

While current voice assistants handle basic commands, future AI agents will understand context, nuance, and intent. They'll communicate with other AI agents to handle complex tasks, much like how military systems coordinate operations.

The Rise of "Extreme Lean"

Drawing from lean manufacturing principles, AI agents will eliminate countless hours of low-value activities from our daily lives:

Time Savings Impact:

• Individual Daily Savings: 2 hours
• Annual Personal Savings: 730 hours
• U.S. Population Savings: 182.5 billion hours annually
• Global Impact: 2.92 trillion hours saved per year

Real-World Applications

Imagine these scenarios:

Shopping:

• Instead of typing searches and comparing products, simply look at an item you like
• Your AI agent instantly finds similar items, better prices, and handles the purchase

Work Productivity:

• No more manual data entry or report writing
• Show your AI what you're working on, and it handles the documentation

Home Management:

• Point at a broken appliance, and your AI schedules repairs
• Look at your pantry, and your AI orders groceries

The Economic Impact

The shift to AI-assisted living represents the biggest efficiency leap since the industrial revolution:

• Elimination of repetitive tasks
• Dramatic reduction in search and decision-making time
• Increased focus on creative and strategic activities
• Enhanced personal and professional productivity

Figure 3. Estimated economic impact of productivity gains from AI Agents and World Models.

Looking Ahead: The Next Five Years

As this technology rolls out, we'll see a transformation similar to the smartphone revolution, but faster and more profound. The winners will be those who embrace and adapt to these changes early, learning to work alongside AI agents just as fighter pilots work with their advanced systems.

Summary: Your Personal Fighter Jet

The same technology that gives fighter pilots their edge is coming to everyday life. Through AI agents and world models, we're all about to get our own version of a fighter jet's advanced systems—not for combat, but for conquering the complexities of modern life.

The question isn't whether this change is coming—it's whether you'll be ready when it arrives.

Why This Matters to You

From cave paintings to ChatGPT, our ancestors used visual thinking to survive—tracking animal patterns in the dirt and reading weather signs in the sky. Today, AI does essentially the same thing: finding patterns in data. The human brain dedicates a substantial portion of its resources to processing visual information. If cave people could read the stars, you can master AI.?

Key Reasons to Care About AI:

1. Command Centers to Neural Networks: Political power shifts from institutions to AI-augmented individuals orchestrating global change.
2. AI Enhances Productivity and Efficiency: AI automates repetitive tasks, freeing up your time for strategy and creativity.
3. AI Is Everywhere: From email filters to business tools, AI is embedded in technologies you already use.
4. Job Evolution, Then Revolution: AI will reshape roles, offering opportunities for collaboration and innovation.
5. Unlocking Creativity: By handling mundane tasks, AI allows you to focus on innovation.
6. Democratization of Tools: AI platforms make complex capabilities accessible to everyone, regardless of expertise.

Adoption Trends: A Snapshot

By November 2024, just two years after its launch, ChatGPT had achieved milestones in adoption:

• Within five days, it amassed 1 million users.
• By January 2023, it reached 100 million monthly active users.
• As of December 2024, ChatGPT boasts 300 million weekly active users, making it the fastest-growing consumer application in history.

Figure 1.4. The bar graph illustrates that ChatGPT reached 100 million users in a fraction of the time required by other technologies.

Common Pain Points and Motivators

Over years of conversations with clients, friends, and family, I’ve identified the following:

Pain Points:

1. “I don’t have time to become a data scientist! How does AI work?”
2. “Will AI replace my job?”
3. “I’m drowning in data but can’t make sense of it.”
4. “What are the limitations of AI and what risks should I be aware of?”
5. “I don’t know where to start with AI.”

Figure 1.5. Cartoon image of an employee overwhelmed by data.

Motivators:

“How can AI help me make better decisions, faster?”

1. “I want to stay ahead of the curve and remain competitive.”
2. “I want to unlock the hidden potential in my data.”
3. “I want to use AI to improve my work-life balance.”
4. “I’m excited about the possibilities of AI but need guidance.”

Figure 1.6. AI generated image of? a businesswoman and an AI robot lying on a bed of US dollar bills and gold bars, suggesting human-machine collaboration as a successful career strategy.

Figure 1.7. Infographic with icons representing different applications of AI: education, healthcare, cities, conservation, and creativity.

• Education: Magic School AI platform for teachers and students and Khanmigo for personalized tutoring. Bolt.new and Julius AI both help and teach anyone to code software or become a data scientist. IFC for cadets.
• Business Processes:? AI Agents are emerging as the hottest AI topic for 2025, with some believing they will displace many apps, enterprise systems and websites: Relevance AI, Zapier, n8n, Langflow, Lanchain, CrewAI.
• Healthcare Innovations: These organizations exemplify the transformative potential of AI in revolutionizing healthcare:? Insitro, AlphaFold, Sandbox AQ combines AI and quantum to unlock insights in medical devices and imaging.
• Smart Cities: AI optimizes traffic management, reducing congestion significantly like the Singapore Smart City Ideation Challenge.
• Environmental Conservation: AI monitors deforestation in real time, enabling quicker conservation efforts. Akash Systems uses diamond cooling to combat heat in AI chips.
• Creative AI: Midjourney, Ideogram, Whisk and World Labs generate stunning visuals and 3D worlds and unlock creative power in everyone.

Figure 1.8. Midjourney users create stunning images from a text prompt.

Common Myths and Justifiable Fears?

AI often evokes a mix of wonder and fear. Concerns range from job displacement to dystopian Hollywood scenarios. While ethical challenges and risks exist, most fears stem from misunderstandings. Here’s what you need to know:

• AI Won’t Immediately Replace You: AI mostly augments human work rather than fully eliminating it. However there will be many cases where AI will take over some jobs -- but also create many new ones (e.g., AI Strategist, Prompt Engineer, AI Agent Orchestrator, AI Data Engineer, AI Consultant)
• AI Is Not Sentient: Current AI systems rely on data and algorithms and are far from self-aware -- so far.
• Ethics Matter: Transparent safeguards and governance are critical to ensuring AI serves humanity. The anti-proliferation efforts for nuclear and biological agents, as well as weapons, offer valuable lessons for establishing guardrails for AI.

Key Takeaways

AI is your “frenemy”—both a friend and a rival.

As a friend, it empowers you by automating tasks and amplifying creativity. As a rival, it challenges you to adapt and leverage uniquely human strengths like critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and ethical decision-making.

1. AI simplifies complex tasks and uncovers patterns humans might miss.
2. Understanding the relationship between AI, ML, and DL empowers you to navigate the AI landscape confidently.
3. Learning the basics of supervised and unsupervised learning provides a foundation for understanding AI’s role in solving real-world problems.

Action Steps:

1. Learn the basic terms and principles of AI.
2. Experiment with simple AI tools to understand its capabilities.
3. Observe AI applications in your field and consider how they might benefit your work.

Table 1. This table suggests ways to master the AI landscape by building foundational knowledge, critical thinking, creativity, communication, and adaptability to navigate emerging trends, ethical challenges, and transformative opportunities effectively.

As you read AI or Die, remember that Adopting AI-driven insights requires a solid grounding in fundamental concepts, accompanied by a deep appreciation for ethical issues. As you develop critical thinking skills and harness AI to boost creativity, you will find opportunities to amplify your communication and storytelling prowess. Remaining agile and receptive to change prepares you to thrive in an ever-evolving AI ecosystem, turning every challenge into a chance for innovation and progress.

Table 2. This table identifies ways to integrate AI into your domain; begin by leveraging your specialized expertise.

As you read the following chapters AI or Die, explore the creation of custom GPTs and copilots through Retrieval-Augmented Generation, and capitalize on AI agents to automate your workflows. Bolster your AI literacy to navigate ethical considerations and effectively synergize with technical teams. Infuse your everyday decision-making with AI-powered insights, and refine your skill set by learning relevant tools. Finally, stay plugged into the AI community by networking online and in person.