A few thoughts from a designer and novelist on AI

A cautious but curious approach to new technologies

Photo by A Chosen Soul on Unsplash

There’s a lot of anxiety and fear around Artificial Intelligence (AI).

As with any new technology that feels like it’s outpacing our ability to understand it, people develop strong, visceral reactions to it. Television, movies, fake news, and social media hysteria haven’t helped. Threats of job losses have amped up the fear. And I’ll admit, a couple of years ago, as a writer and designer, I was deeply skeptical, even afraid of AI. Would it advance too quickly? Would it replace my work? My writing? Would it disrupt and negatively impact society?

It might do all of that and more things we haven’t even considered.

But I’ve realized that ignoring it won’t make AI go away. It’s weaving itself into everyday tools, and if I ignore it, I’ll just get left behind. So instead, I’ve chosen to engage with it, learn about it, understand where, and how, it has a place in my life.

Pitchforks and torches

As a lifelong designer, I could talk about the Design community’s fear of AI replacing creative work (which, in my view, only happens if you see design as merely replicating past outputs). But instead, I want to use a more unexpected example…my work…