Let AI decide

        Recently I was depressed because of thoughts that AI could make me irrelevant. To console myself, I focused on the mental health benefits of my creative pursuits. I will write, take pictures, and draw despite what AI can do better and faster. I also needed to validate my work for my business as my own and not the product of AI. I felt threatened because of stories touting AI's efficiency in writing blogs and creating images. But I am selling myself when I write and show pictures. I don’t want people to assume my stuff is computer-generated. I thought I was suffering from an identity crisis. Then I realized that when I create, I do it with intent, which is not something AI is capable of yet.

        An AI can generate work from a prompt but only approximate the concept. Only a human knows the emotional response the work should evoke from the target demographic. The AI does not recognize the need for the work, initiate problem-solving, or control the delivery. At the end of humanity, it will be a human who inputs a prompt that destroys all humans. Although the actual words used will probably be, “Make me better than everyone.”

        Similarly, people are in control of how AI affects the workplace. Managers can devalue people and cause dysfunction by not understanding the scope of an individual’s role. For example, the company may require a combined effort of people to get work done. Documents must be signed in person, formatted uniquely, and passed through a real-world chain of administrative positions. Staff restructuring can cause roadblocks because the people facilitating the overlooked actions are gone. And AI cannot know who did what or make the workplace more efficient by itself.

        I started this piece by mentioning an identity crisis and that AI was involved. But people control the changes AI will enable. My beef, then, is with people making decisions that harm others. I read about resulting injustices in the news, a significant source of my stress. I can’t prevent bad news, but I can control how I react. However, focusing on only the positive or ignoring the news is a terrible way to handle stress.

        I propose creating a list of proper behavior for people. But people have made etiquette lists throughout the ages, and the guidance doesn’t stick. Philosophers, spiritual leaders, and politicians fail to craft a universal message. Maybe AI could compile something agreeable to all. AI swiftly organizes massive amounts of data and, with the correct information, can generate strategies to manage humanity. Human behavior is like an algorithm, and bias keeps people from accepting each other. Maybe AI can help people unlearn biases and find common ground. Perhaps AI can teach humanity to make responsible long-term survival decisions. I hear it can also do marketing. Then again, a human must allow the AI solution to be known, so a subscription service opiate of the masses is more likely.

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