The most important in the AI revolution is you

Suddenly, it feels like humanity is facing a greater shift than in a very long time. Many are bewildered by the rapid development within AI – some worried, others enthusiastic.

Personally, I find it fascinating and exciting. Perhaps not for the AI development itself, which I have been following as a journalist and lecturer for a couple of decades, but more because the technology is now reaching out into society and meeting broad groups of people. Lawyers, programmers, artists, musicians, writers, creators, journalists, artists, investigators, economists, marketers, engineers, recruiters, doctors, teachers... In just a few months, all of these and many more have come into contact with AI and started asking themselves what we should use AI for and what it means, for society, for companies, and for themselves.

And that's when things really start happening. You might recall the early internet in the 1990s, when curious enthusiasts built simple websites in HTML code. I was one of them, and we had fun. But it wasn't until at least ten years later, when people with different backgrounds, interests, and skills began to explore all the possibilities of the internet, that the web became truly exciting.

The same could be said about the printing press. Sure, it was a big leap to be able to print a few Bibles quickly and inexpensively, instead of writing them by hand, which took months or years. But that progress can't compare to the wealth of world literature that has flowed through printing presses since then and landed in the hands of people in all countries.

And that's why I'm telling you this now – the most important in the AI revolution is you. Because technology is changing the world, perhaps more than anything else, but it's us humans who make the world magical. It's through your commitment, your interest, your curiosity, and your skills that AI will be able to become what we need. And the first step is just to try it out and create a picture of what AI is and what it isn't.

Right now, there's a lot of fear and concern about AI. Partly because it's something new and unknown, but also because a range of competent experts fuel a doomsday scenario about the risk of an AI that's smarter than humans and eradicates humanity.

Media gladly spread this scenario, but I can reassure you that there are gaps in the analysis. Today's AI has no trace of consciousness, no will, and no reason whatsoever to increase its intelligence on its own. And we're not even close to building anything like that. If one day, much further in the future, we manage to do that, there's also nothing saying that we can't build a friendly relationship with such AI.

But don't get stuck in the doomsday scenario. There are plenty of important challenges with AI here and now – bias, lack of transparency, concentration of power, unclear responsibility, etc. And once again, it's us humans who are important for seeing and solving these problems. But most importantly, we are crucial for seeing possibilities and exploring applications where we can use AI to make the world better, safer, more sustainable, more beautiful, and more equal.

Perhaps the very most important thing is to use AI to slow global warming, but there are thousands and thousands of undiscovered opportunities where it's us humans who, together with AI, can find new paths. That's why the most important in the AI revolution is you.

As a speaker, I'd be happy to tell you more in one of my talks! Feel free to contact me now.