Thriving with AI: 15 Kevin Kelly tips

In the early 1980s, before co-founding Wired magazine, Kevin Kelly embarked on a solo journey through remote Asian villages to explore humanity’s connection to the past and future. Immersed in ancient traditions and simple ways of life, Kevin was seeking forgotten knowledge.

In a remote Pakistani village, he met an elderly man who had lived without modern technology. Through gestures and shared words, they discussed life and purpose. The man gave Kevin a handmade farming tool, sparking an epiphany: technology, no matter how simple, evolves in response to human needs, much like life itself. This profound moment shaped Kevin’s philosophy that technology is an extension of human creativity and collaboration. It evolves naturally, combining and recombining to meet new challenges. This realisation became the foundation of his work. He urged others to see the beauty in humanity’s technological journey as an expression of imagination and necessity.

Kevin Kelly’s ideas on AI, technology and creativity have greatly influenced me.

ArtificiaI Intelligence

The key to thriving with AI is understanding that it’s a tool, not a threat. - Kevin Kelly

• The robots are coming - not to take your job but to help you do it better.
• Artificial intelligence is like electricity: a general-purpose tool for every domain.
• Automation doesn’t eliminate work; it changes the kind of work humans do.
• AI will do the jobs we can’t imagine so we can focus on what truly matters.
• AI will reveal new problems that only humans can solve.

I use AI everyday. It helps me develop digital tools, learn new topics and write. In 1984, I worked for IBM. The mainframe computers and programming languages I used then seemed magical. How lucky am I to have access to laptops, the internet, smartphones and AI. None of these technologies existed when I graduated with a Maths and Computing degree in the 80s. I am excited for the new technologies I can play with next.

Technology

The role of technology is to amplify what is inherently human - Kevin Kelly

• You are not late. The future is vast and largely unexplored.
• The best way to predict the future is to create it.
• A great deal of intelligence can be invested in ignorance when the need for illusion is deep.
• Embrace the inevitable; technology will change everything. The impossible today will be ordinary tomorrow.
• We are transitioning from a culture of ownership to one of access.

I love technology and what it enables. In 1984, I bought a Psion Organiser, one of a new range of devices known as Personal Digital Assistants. It looked like a small, grey, plastic brick with a small screen and keyboard, revealed by sliding off its case. I was the only person I knew who had one. Colleagues and friends were curious. Looking at my iPhone, I realise I have witnessed Darwinian digital evolution at first hand.

Creativity

Overnight success is a myth. Success is built incrementally. - Kevin Kelly

• The tools of creativity are cheaper, faster and more accessible than ever before.
• The best way to invent the future is to prototype it. Do not be afraid to start small; innovation begins at the edges.
• Great ideas come from the friction between disciplines.
• Technology amplifies human imagination - it doesn’t replace it.
• All creativity builds on something that came before.

At school, Maths was my thing. Creativity was what arty people did. Not me. Much later in life, I realised I could be creative too. The lightbulb moment came when someone pointed out that most novel ideas are combinations of existing ones with a twist. No need to be original. Just be curious and create connections. As David Bowie said, The only art I’ll study is stuff that I can steal from.

Other resources

The Inevitable talk by Kevin Kelly

Kevin Kelly Advice for Geeks (and others) post by Phil Martin

Ten Tips from Futurist Kevin Kelly post by Phil Martin

Kevin Kelly forecasts that AI will generate more jobs, more wealth and more opportunities than it destroys, but in ways we can’t yet imagine.

Have fun.

Phil…