AI: A future without Firewood

Lately I've been thinking quite a bit about AI—what it means to us, what it means to me as an artist, and what’s bound to happen in both the near and distant future because of its proliferation. I realize the temptation for exaggeration is always there; it’s easy to get seduced by nihilistic thoughts of a dystopian future. But even if we take a sober, calculated approach, there’s no denying this technology will reshape everything we touch.

The Big Changes

I can easily imagine what it must have felt like for a farmer using a bull to pull a plow when the industrial revolution came along—suddenly, the work of fifty men done by a single machine. I can also picture my hypothetical farmer resisting it, calling the machine an abomination, pointing out its flaws, swearing he’ll never use it.

The truth is, technological advances have never been easy. They’ve always been disruptive. One could even argue that’s the whole point. And so, worrying about big changes makes a lot of sense—not because we won’t adapt (we will), but because we don’t yet know if we’re the ones driving the tractor… or the farmer still plowing the soil.

It takes just a few minutes of research to discover the countless jobs that ceased to exist once technology replaced them. One fun example: before alarm clocks, there was a job called the knocker-upper. Slapping a stick against a window early in the morning used to be a perfectly good career.

Early Adoption

I believe we’re still very early in this game. We don’t really know how it’s going to play out, and frankly, we can’t know for sure. It was once predicted that AI would wipe out most administrative jobs—but the data we have so far tells a different story.

As far as I can tell, there aren’t general managers firing assistants, accountants, or salespeople and replacing them with AI. Of course, that might change in the future—but right now, the trend points elsewhere.

One thing that surprised me is how many people are using AI to deal with mental health. They're sitting in front of their computers, talking to ChatGPT the way you might talk to a friend—or even a therapist.

“Why am I so anxious?”
“How do I deal with loss?”

They're having deep conversations about topics that are hard to navigate—especially alone.

And of course, the most visible early adopters are the ones making “art.”(I seem to have forgotten how to use the sarcasm font, but I hope my position is clear.)

Today, there are millions of NFTs, songs, and essays circulating online that began as prompts on a screen. Regardless of how we feel about this so-called art, resisting it is pointless. Sooner or later, we’ll collectively reevaluate what art means to us—and it’ll happen without us even noticing.

The Promise of UBI

I’ve been a longtime proponent of Universal Basic Income, and I’ve talked about it on this blog for the past eight years. To me, UBI is the inevitable conclusion—not out of moral obligation, but because the system itself demands it.

To those who resist the idea, I offer a simple thought experiment:
Imagine a company producing the best products imaginable. Now imagine they’ve perfected their advertising too—every ad lands in front of exactly the right audience.

Now… imagine a consumer with no money to buy any of it.

At that point, UBI stops being an idealistic goal and becomes a necessity.

Regardless of our political leanings, I don’t think many of us would argue that all the surplus created by automation should funnel into just a few hands.

Will It Be Boring?

This is the question I keep circling back to: What would we do with ourselves if we didn’t have to worry so much?

There was a time when collecting firewood took up most of our day. Now we have light bulbs—and yet we never stopped keeping busy. We found things to do, because that’s how we’re wired.

Even during moments of bonanza—when I’ve done well for myself—I’ve never once considered doing nothing. That idea is so unappealing to me I can’t even put it into words.

We all need a fight, a struggle, a climb, a challenge. It’s part of who we are, and who we need to be.

Our minds are complex in a million ways, but they can also be simple.

Almost all of us with very few exceptions, want to feel needed, appreciated, and valued by the people around us, its deeply connected to our sense of self worth. So yes, I can imagine AI and automation freeing us from many daily tasks, taking over our jobs, so to speak. But I’m also confident we’ll come up with new things to do, new jobs that we can't even imagine today.

MenO