Everybody is talking about AI, ChatGPT, and the widespread mainstream adoption of artificial intelligence. Big data has been using AI algorithms and feeding our human knowledge into AI nonstop for a long time. Since I have looked at the negative side of social media for years, the talk from Tristan Harris and Aza Raskin from the Center for Human Technology seemed to hit the nail right on the head. Social media won the “race for attention” and we have certainly outsourced our knowledge and creativity to technology. That has already happened. The speakers called social media “1st contact” and “2nd contact” has been made with AI. The impact is huge and perhaps unstoppable. The need for legislation is apparent and the time for it has come. But do we even understand what it means?

So, what can we do to remain human in the post truth world around us?

Every part of our lives is now impacted by AI and the next generation may never know a world that valued privacy, authenticity, accuracy and the richness of human history. My personal passion since the smart phone gave us the “endless scroll” of personal incoming information has been to advocate for a personal responsibility for digital citizenship. If each one of us doesn’t understand that we are personally responsible, nothing can be done and my blog tagline “navigating the sea of chaos” in digital culture becomes impossible. Our dependence on technology is obviously beyond the scope of our understanding and there is no going back.

Examples of AI Creativity (can we call it creativity?)

Artificial intelligence applications like Midjourney and Dalle-E are gaining popularity. In a recent photography competition, Boris Eldagsen (the winner) declined to accept the prize and revealed that the photograph had been created by AI. He argued that AI is not photography and calls it #promptography.

We all now have seen AI apps write in many styles and now AI can replicate voices and create music in any particular style. A recent rap song caused an Internet flurry because apparently the voices and style of Drake and The Weeknd were AI generated.

The irony (or perhaps hypocrisy) of writing on a social media site (my blog) about the perils of social media has never been ignored in my mind. We can’t escape digital culture. I must investigate the future if I care about the next generation. There is hope. My only hope in this life has always been my faith. AI has no soul and even though we cannot explain what a soul even is…. you and I both know we have one.