Today, I am grateful to return to my guest post series, especially after a long break! (If you are keen to be a guest writer on my blog, please check out my guidelines for guest posts by scrolling to the bottom of my About page and share your ideas with me)
For more than two years now, I’ve been blessed to know Leslie Koh, a former journalist and highly experienced writer. He’s since become a firm friend and fellow confidante in all things to do with writing, as well as social trends and current affairs. So it’s really a no-brainer for me to implore him to contribute a guest post here.
Hope you enjoy his writing as much as I do!
Earlier this month, I heard some of the best news in weeks, maybe months.
It came during a casual conversation with a good friend working in the education sector, who, on hearing me complain about AI taking over the world, gave me some assurance.
You know, he said, there’s a sliver of resistance within my university. There’s a number of young people who feel the same as you about AI, and that number is growing.
He proceeded to tell me how several students had expressed concern after being encouraged by teachers – ironic, don’t you think? – to use AI in their work. One of them, apparently, had raised concerns about the morality of using AI, while others were reluctant to do so.
Pushing Back Against AI Tech
This news came right on the heels of a report of graduating students in the US booing a commencement speech by a pro-AI chief executive.
Both reports were seriously the best news I’d heard in a while, especially after a series of rather depressing conversations I have had about AI in previous weeks. In those conversations, I had been reminded about the undoubtable power of AI, why it was inevitable and unavoidable, and why everyone should embrace it.
Worse still, it was also hinted to me that I should stop being a Luddite, stop resisting change, and hop onto the global bandwagon of “tech optimists” to see the wonderful futures that AI held for mankind.
To be honest, those conversations not only depressed me, but also sowed a seed of doubt in me. Was I being stubborn in expressing scepticism about AI? Was I resisting AI simply because I feared change?
That’s when I couldn’t help but wonder if I was going about this all wrong. After all, I’ve always supported the use of technology when it could improve our lives and help us do work more efficiently. In fact, I love technology, especially hardware. I love reading and watching videos about the latest tech and the amazing things they can do. And I’ve always been somewhat critical about those who resist change simply because it was “not like the old days”.
Did this mean, I began to wonder, that I had become as stubborn as these very folks I used to criticise?
Joy Knowing I’m Not Alone
Maybe that’s why my friend’s news brought me such joy.
First, it gave me some sense of vindication. Here was a group of young people expressing doubts about the latest tech – even though they had been raised on tech. Despite being digital natives, they had the same concerns and fears I had about the onslaught of AI.
Don’t get me wrong. I am not completely against AI tech. I can understand the lure of its power and potential, and see that it can take over many mechanical or repetitive tasks, freeing people to focus on what’s more important. After all, AI as a genre of tech isn’t entirely new – predictive and intelligent technologies have been part of our lives for many years.
I am also very much aware that we often tend to fear new things simply because we cannot understand them, and that we need to stay open to change.
But what I – and many others, I’m sure – am concerned about is the headlong rush into embracing artificial intelligence in such a way and at such a speed, that it does not appear to leave room for us to consider the potential long-term impact that AI may have on us. Even if this new tech turns out to be the best thing since sliced bread, surely we can still afford to slow down, pause and mull over the ramifications of outsourcing so much of our tasks, planning and thinking to AI? Surely we can take some time to reflect over the impact it might have on our intellectual, social and emotional psyches?
And this is where the crux of the good news, as I see it, lies.
Even The Young Are Returning To “Old Tech”!
The fact that there are some students holding back (and others booing the pro-AI speech), suggests that there are some among the younger generation who are thinking a little differently. Who are daring to challenge what has now apparently become the status quo. And who are willing to consider that there is, after all, some value in the “old ways” of doing things.
You might say I’m banking on this minority or anecdotal evidence of resistance, and argue that this isn’t enough to fuel my tech optimism. But consider some other recent ongoing trends that might reflect a growing pushback against technology and AI.
As we’ve seen, there’s been a resurgence of interest in “old tech”. In film cameras, vinyl records, dumb phones, Walkmans and other vintage tech, as well as in traditional skills like cooking, baking, knitting, crocheting, painting, pottery, folk art, home repair work and even colouring.
Perhaps, at some level, they reflect a growing appreciation of the value of doing things manually, by hand or painstakingly, instead of relying on mass-production, automation, and high-tech methods.
Perhaps, deep inside some of us (and hopefully more), there’s an innate desire to truly create. Not necessarily in an old-fashioned or antiquated way, but in a manner that celebrates the value of human effort and creativity. Of skills and experience acquired over time through years of practice and grind.
Staying Tech Optimistic With Renewed Hope
After all, what can replace the joy and wonder of doing something yourself instead of outsourcing the entire process to technology, such that you can point to the result and say proudly, “I did this”?!
What could be more rewarding than the realisation that the journey is often more important than the destination. That life is not always about getting somewhere or getting something done in the shortest or easiest time possible, but about how we get there?
And so, I continue to harbour hope.
Hope that not everyone is jumping wildly onto the AI bandwagon. Hope that there are enough people out there who are seeking to be a little more circumspect about the implications and impact of disruptive technologies like AI.
And hope that some parts of society still understand what humanity and creativity is all about.
Most of all, hope that some among the next generation are continuing to value what makes them truly human.
Many have likened AI to Skynet, the AI system that becomes sentient and destroys the world in the Terminator movie series.
Having heard the latest good news, I’d like to believe – the Resistance lives on!
Leslie Koh is a former journalist and a current freelance writer & editor. He loves travelling, eating, running… and of course, writing and editing! Feel free to check out his other writings here.
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