AI tools like ChatGPT have transformed everyday life, but our growing reliance on artificial intelligence could be quietly eroding critical thinking, independent decision-making and human problem-solving skills. Picture: Google Gemini
Image: Google Gemini
If you had to time travel from just a few years ago, perhaps even as recently as 2020, you would likely be astounded by how integrated Artificial Intelligence (AI) has become in our daily lives.
At least I tend to think so.
Obviously, each person’s use case is vastly different, but when you stop and think about how much you use AI every day, it can be a little scary.
Scary in the sense that there’s an age-old fear that removing the human element from our routines is a dangerous path to set ourselves on.
Writing a business proposal, a script or a breaking news story? AI is often our first port of call before we let another human take a look at our work.
Planning a holiday, buying a new car, or trying to work out whether you really need to see a doctor about that nagging cough? AI is probably your first stop.
Even when it comes to relationships, people are becoming increasingly reliant on AI.
Just the other day, I found myself lost while trying to follow the plot of season three of the espionage thriller series Jack Ryan. After my confusion kept growing five episodes in, it struck me. I suggested to my wife that we take a break so I could read up on the plot and get us back on the same page.
Instead of Googling it or hopping over to IMDb, I decided to have a chat with ChatGPT. I explained my problem, and it gave me a brilliant rundown of everything that had happened up to that point in the series.
It provided a big-picture summary, a list of the key players with descriptions, and brief plot summaries covering the first four episodes.
This is just one example of how something as simple as enjoying your favourite TV show can now be influenced by AI.
We may not yet be raging war against the machines like humanity did in The Terminator franchise, but we may have already set ourselves on a path where our decisions are increasingly shaped by algorithms instead of instinct, curiosity or independent thought.
And that may be more terrifying than any machine bent on human extermination.
* The views expressed are not necessarily the views of IOL or Independent Media.
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