Are we asking the right questions about AI?

While many debate the ethics of AI, I think we should debate the health of it.

Image by Igor Omilaev on Unsplash.com

I’ve heard a lot of talk about the ethics of AI. And rightly so. AI raises many ethical concerns.

But there's a question about AI I think is more important.

Is AI healthy?

Before we tackle the tough ethical questions, we should be asking ourselves if AI is healthy for humanity. For society. For the greater good.

Many are quick to point out that AI is “just a tool.” And people will argue that, like every other new tool that’s ever come along and disrupted an industry, some people opposed it at first, some were displaced, the industry adapted and then we all moved on.

So everything’s going to be fine, right? What’s the big deal?

Here’s the big deal. What makes AI different from other tools that have disrupted industries in the past is the human attribute it’s intended to replace or enhance.

Throughout history, humans have only ever developed tools to make their labor easier. And in some cases even tools to replace labor entirely.

It's important to keep in mind (so I'll reiterate): those tools were built to replace labor.

But AI is different. AI is the first “tool” we’ve created that does more than replace human labor. It replaces human thinking.

Think about it like this:

A computer is a tool that makes it easier for writers to record their ideas. Could a person with no computer still write a story? Of course! Many of the greatest stories ever told were written long before computers!

Great stories continue to be told after the advent of the computer because the computer didn’t replace the fundamental essence of story writing. It replaced the typewriter. Which replaced pen and paper. Which replaced papyrus, and so on.

The computer simply made the labor of story writing easier.

But now let’s look at AI. AI is a “tool” that generates ideas. Could a person with no ideas write a story? No. But AI could do it for them.

AI is capable of replacing the fundamental essence of story writing - the idea itself.

AI is not making writing easier for writers. It’s writing.

Again, AI is not replacing the labor. It’s replacing the thinking.

That's a big difference from all the other industry-disrupting “tools” we’ve seen in the past.

But, back to the part about it being unhealthy …

Many would agree that, generally speaking, the human body has suffered as a result of our labor becoming easier. I don’t think it’s a stretch to say that we're generally less physically fit than previous generations.

So, if tools that replace human labor have made us less physically fit, doesn't it follow that tools that replace human thinking will make us dumber? Or at least less creative?

Does that sound like a good thing to anyone?

But what's the harm if I just use AI to help spark more of my own ideas? Or just to enhance my own work?

I’m glad you asked. In my opinion, those “innocent” little AI queries cause more harm than you might think. And I'm not even talking about the environmental resources it uses to generate the responses.

Before AI, when writers needed help generating ideas or refining their work, what did they do? They collaborated with someone. An editor. A beta reader. A friend. A person.

Today, the more we use AI to help spark ideas, edit, enhance or refine our work, the less we collaborate with each other. The less community we build. The fewer connections we make with each other.

In a world already so divided, we should be asking ourselves: is this healthy? Is this really the direction we want to go?

Is AI leading us to a future where humans will become generally dumber, less creative AND less collaborative?

Maybe it’s just me, but I think the world needs more human connections. Not less.

Ok, so what can we do about it?

Try this:

• Maybe the next time you want to ask ChatGPT to help you refine or edit a story idea, try calling a fellow writer instead.

• And when you want to ask ChatGPT for a dinner recipe tonight, maybe call your mom instead. I bet she’d love to hear from you.

While many continue to debate the ethics of AI, I think we should also debate the health of it.

Is AI making us better? If not, maybe we should question why we're using it at all.