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Skepticism Made Me an AI Expert
Balancing caution with curiosity has led me to success.
It’s funny to me that a self-avowed socialist-anarchist librarian fiction writer, who has spent a goodly time being skeptical of generative AI, has now become something of an expert in the topic.
But that skepticism is actually what makes me a perfect fit for the team I’m on. Not only am I coming from the perspective of “humanity first,” I’m not starry-eyed about the promises being made. There are changes coming (they are already taking place), but the question of how we apply ourselves to meet those changes is the most interesting thing.
One of my favorite iconic figures from history, Sir Herbert Read, also found himself in a state of contradictions. A famous anarchist and also a knight of the realm, he refused to play into the stereotype of absolute self-assured identification with anyone else’s idea of “right” and “wrong.”
My life, too, is a contradiction. I think I’ll choose to enjoy that for a while.
If I had one piece of advice for the AI-fueled future, it would be… learn as much as you can. The more you dislike the technology, the more you need to learn about it. And if what you really dislike is the mixture of where this technology is being applied, coupled with its devastating effects on…