Seeing Our AI Future is Simple
AI is a general purpose technology.
A technology that can be used in many other technologies.
Electricity is also a general purpose technology.
The lightbulb is one of many technologies electricity enables.
Looking at how electricity changed everything, makes it obvious how AI will change everything.
Let’s dig in:
Electricity gave us better ways of doing the same things.
Prior to electricity, we used candles and kerosene lamps for illumination.
Now we use the lightbulb.
We light the same rooms with the lightbulb.
We just do so more efficiently.
AI is giving us better ways of doing the same things.
Prior to AI we used paper maps when driving to a new location.
Now we use Google Maps.
We’re still navigating to the same locations we would without AI.
We’re just using AI enabled maps to do so more efficiently.
Electricity created new behaviors that were previously not possible.
Prior to electricity you could light your home with a kerosene lamp.
But you couldn’t watch a less efficient television.
The invention of electricity and the TV created a new behavior.
One that was not possible before electricity.
AI is also creating new behaviors that were not possible before.
Prior to AI people only used phones to talk to other people.
Now people talk to their phones…..”Hey Siri”.
AI didn’t make talking to our phones easier and more efficient.
We didn’t talk to our phones at all before AI.
Now we do.
What’s next?
Electricity gave us the ability to add power to anything.
And thats what we did.
AI is allowing us to add intelligence to anything.
And that’s what we’re doing.
We’re adding intelligence to our existing digital tools.
We’re adding intelligence to our existing physical tools.
We’re inventing new intelligent digital tools that were not possible before AI.
And we’re inventing new intelligent physical tools that were not possible before AI.
So, knowing where AI is headed is obvious.
Just look for the places we can benefit from additional intelligence.
Thanks for reading.
Dave
