Will AI End You?

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is here; it's not a question of how widely it will be used or integrated into everyday life. The question is where the safeguards will be placed.

In just the last week, the sinister underbelly of AI has shown itself.

• Secretary of State Marco Rubio has his voice cloned, and calls were made on his behalf.

• The X AI tool Grok went rogue and started making comments about Adolf Hitler in response to the flooding that devastated central Texas.

If those examples weren’t enough, in June, MIT released findings from a study published earlier in the year, “Your brain on ChatGPT.”  Surely the authors wanted all the GenXers to have mental flashes of a man cracking eggs into a hot skillet, saying, “This is your brain.  This is your brain on drugs…”

In the MIT study, the results were profound.  Essentially, the more we use ChatGPT, the dumber we get!  Read the abstract here if you’re into that kinda stuff.

Anything Goes

We’re very much in a period of AI evolution where anything goes.  It's the Wild Wild West, and every coder has their six-shooter loaded and ready to duel.

There is no limit to the creation some people have.

To the Marco Rubio impersonation, or the reposting of a meme that highlights the societal moral failure of the day/week.

Everyone is yearning to grab attention and stake their claim.

What AI can't do…

AI will end us, or at least a part of us, if we allow it.  

Use AI to do mathematics, and we will lose the skill.  Like when teachers used to lament using calculators because you’d lose the ability to do simple arithmetic.

Use AI to write newsletters, articles, and social media posts, and soon enough, they all look, sound, and say the same.

If we try to do what AI can do, it will end us.

What can’t AI do… touch someone on the shoulder.

Look someone in the eyes and smile.

Ask questions because you want an answer.

Be curious.

Laugh!

This just happened to me. I'm writing this newsletter while flying, and the flight attendant just came to ask for our drink request.

Leaning to hear the answer of the person sitting next to me, the flight attendant's leg brushed mine.

Nothing awkward, out of line, or inappropriate.  Simple human contact.

And it was comforting.  It was comforting because humans have a physical need for touch.  AI can't replicate human touch.

The Sage Guides

Faisal Hoque is a tech entrepreneur who has created, advised, and written about the tech industry for the better part of the 2000s.

His books emphasize the need for humanness in the tech world. His latest book, Transcend, offers sage advice and guidance on how anyone can safeguard and effectively utilize AI. He aims to help readers “unlock the humanity in AI.”

He is not alone.  In the row in front of me here on the plane, a man is reading “The Coming Wave: AI, Power and Our Future”.

People are getting prepared or searching for answers, and some have advice to offer.

They are the sage guides.  And the most cautious know AI will envelope nearly every facet of our lives.

So we must work to maintain the qualities that only humans can express.

We can stay human by guarding against over-automation.

Tech Revolutions Aren't New

Five hundred and seventy-five years ago, in 1450 AD, a technological revolution occurred that significantly altered the human landscape.

A single invention changed how people collect, express, disseminate, and create information: knowledge.

What created a tremendous opportunity also displaced many workers.

Before the invention of the printing press, books were manually copied by hand.

An author would write it out.  The original was essentially priceless.

Copies were pricey.

The transfer of information and education was at the pace of what one could speak.

I see what is happening with AI in 2025 in the same way the printing press did in the Renaissance era.

The printing press spurred the Renaissance, an age of enlightenment that ushered in Modernity.

AI has the power to do the same.

As Stan Lee wrote, as words expressed by Uncle Ben in the Spider-Man comic, with great power comes great responsibility.

There is ‘tremendous’ responsibility with AI, and with that, there is tremendous opportunity to go deep with and focus on human qualities.

AI will never end us if we never try to do what only AI can do!

Did you catch this podcast? If not, listen to it here.