What Do I Think Is the Future of AI? I Think It Depends on Us.

What do you think is the future of AI?

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So, the WordPress Daily Prompt asks: What do you think is the future of AI?

And honestly? I think there’s a lot of fearmongering when it comes to AI. And I think we need to have a serious conversation about that shit.

Now, look, I’m not oblivious or ignorant to the problems with AI. I’m not going to sit here and pretend that everything about AI is sunshine and rainbows, because it isn’t. There are some serious problems that we need to address.

There’s the environmental impact. There’s the issue of people using AI for malicious purposes. There’s the question of how AI models are trained, including concerns about copyrighted work being used without permission or compensation. There’s the possibility of AI replacing people’s jobs and leaving workers behind. And there’s the question of who’s actually benefiting from all this technology in the first place.

These are legitimate concerns. We shouldn’t ignore them, dismiss them, or pretend that they don’t exist.

But here’s the thing: AI isn’t inherently bad. AI is a tool. And like any tool, what matters is how we use it, who controls it, and what we choose to do with it.

And I think that’s something that gets lost in all the conversations about AI.

Because AI has the potential to do some genuinely good things. It can help people learn new skills, make information more accessible, assist people with disabilities, help researchers solve complicated problems, and give people new ways to express themselves creatively. It can help people who might otherwise lack the resources, knowledge, or opportunities to accomplish certain things.

And those are just a few examples.

I’m someone who believes that AI can be used for good. I believe that it can help people. I believe that it can uplift people. I believe that it can give people opportunities they might not otherwise have.

And I don’t think we should throw away those possibilities just because there are problems that need to be addressed.

Think about Spider-Man for a moment. There’s that famous saying about how, with great power comes great responsibility.

And honestly, I think that applies to AI.

AI is powerful. It’s an incredibly powerful tool, and that power comes with responsibilities. We have a responsibility to make sure that we’re using it correctly. We have a responsibility to make sure that it doesn’t cause unnecessary harm. We have a responsibility to ensure that people aren’t being exploited or left behind in the name of technological progress.

And, perhaps most importantly, we have a responsibility to make sure that AI serves humanity rather than expecting humanity to serve AI.

The question shouldn’t simply be whether AI is good or bad. The question should be what we’re doing with it and how we can make it better.

And that’s why I believe we need regulation.

We need AI companies to be more transparent about how their systems work, how their models are trained, and how they’re handling people’s data and creative work. We need meaningful protections for workers whose livelihoods might be affected by AI. We need safeguards against malicious uses of the technology. And we need to consider the environmental costs of developing and operating these systems.

We also need our governments to take these issues seriously.

And I don’t mean that we should blindly trust the government to get everything right. Governments can make mistakes, and regulations can be poorly designed or influenced by corporate interests. We need to hold our elected officials accountable, too.

But we cannot simply leave everything up to technology companies and hope that they’ll do the right thing out of the goodness of their hearts.

We need to demand better from these companies. We need to demand better from our governments. And we need to hold ourselves accountable for how we use this technology.

Because the future of AI shouldn’t be determined exclusively by a handful of wealthy executives and corporations.

It should be something that we, as a society, have a say in.

And that brings me to another issue I have with the way people talk about AI.

I think we need to stop treating AI as though it’s automatically some kind of existential threat to humanity.

Now, before anyone gets the wrong idea, I’m not saying there are no risks associated with advanced AI. There are legitimate questions about how increasingly capable systems could affect society, how we maintain meaningful human oversight, and how we prevent dangerous applications. Those questions deserve serious research and discussion.

But there’s a difference between acknowledging risks and constantly fearmongering about the technology as though humanity is inevitably doomed.

We need to be able to distinguish between realistic concerns, reasonable predictions, speculation, and outright nonsense.

We need to separate fact from fiction.

And we need to question the people who keep telling us that AI represents an existential threat, regardless of which side of the political aisle they happen to be on.

Because here’s something that I find interesting.

You have some leftists who are deeply opposed to AI, often because of concerns about capitalism, exploitation, labor, copyright, and the concentration of corporate power.

And then you have people like Elon Musk and other prominent tech executives who have also warned about the dangers of AI.

Now, obviously, these people don’t all have the same motivations, and they don’t necessarily agree on what should be done about AI. There are legitimate differences between their positions.

But doesn’t that make you stop and think for a moment?

When people with very different political and economic perspectives are telling you that the same technology is dangerous, I think it’s worth examining what each of them actually means, what evidence they’re presenting, and what solutions they’re advocating.

Because warning about AI and wanting to control AI aren’t necessarily the same thing.

And this is where I start asking questions.

Who gets to develop AI? Who gets to use it? Who gets to decide what it’s allowed to do? Who gets to profit from it? And who gets left out?

Are we concerned about the technology itself? Are we concerned about the corporations controlling it? Are we concerned about how it’s being used? Or are we confusing all these different issues and treating them as though they’re one and the same?

And could some people who talk about AI being dangerous also have an interest in ensuring that control over AI remains concentrated in the hands of a relatively small number of companies, institutions, or individuals?

I think those are questions worth asking.

I don’t claim to know the motivations of everyone who warns about AI, and I’m not going to pretend that every AI critic is secretly working toward the same agenda. That would be ridiculous.

But I do think we should be skeptical of anyone who tells us that a technology with the potential to benefit millions of people is simply too dangerous for ordinary people to have meaningful access to.

Especially when we consider that access to technology can determine who gets opportunities, who gets to participate in the economy, and who gets to create things.

I don’t want a future where AI is controlled exclusively by a handful of corporations. I don’t want a future where ordinary people are denied useful tools while the wealthiest and most powerful people get to enjoy all the benefits. And I certainly don’t want a future where fear becomes an excuse to prevent people from accessing technology that could genuinely improve their lives.

At the same time, I don’t want a future where companies can do whatever the hell they want with AI, regardless of the consequences.

Those two positions aren’t contradictory.

We can support AI while criticizing the companies that develop it. We can recognize its potential while demanding safeguards. We can embrace technological progress without blindly accepting everything that comes with it.

Why does it have to be one extreme or the other?

Why do we have to choose between treating AI as the greatest invention in human history and treating it as the end of civilization?

Why can’t we have a more nuanced conversation?

And why can’t we acknowledge that AI is a technology that we are still learning how to use, regulate, and integrate into society?

I think we can.

And I think we should.

Because ultimately, the future of AI isn’t just about what the technology becomes. It’s also about what we, as human beings, decide to do with it.

Will we use it to help people? Will we use it to expand access to knowledge? Will we use it to make our lives better? Will we use it to help solve problems that we’ve struggled with for generations?

Or will we allow it to become another tool for exploitation, inequality, manipulation, and corporate greed?

Those aren’t questions that AI can answer for us.

Those are questions that we have to answer.

And I think that’s where the conversation needs to go.

I’m optimistic about the future of AI, but my optimism isn’t unconditional. I don’t believe that everything will magically work out just because the technology exists. I don’t believe that technological progress automatically means human progress.

We have to work toward that.

We have to make responsible decisions. We have to hold people accountable. We have to demand regulations that protect the public without unnecessarily preventing people from benefiting from the technology. And we have to make sure that the benefits of AI aren’t reserved exclusively for those who already have the most power and money.

We also have to be willing to change our minds when new evidence comes along. If a particular AI application is causing more harm than good, we should be willing to address that. If an AI system is helping people in ways we didn’t anticipate, we should be willing to recognize that, too.

We shouldn’t let political tribalism dictate our views on technology.

And we shouldn’t let fear dictate our future.

So, what do I think is the future of AI?

I think its future depends on us.

I think AI can be a force for good. I think it can help people, empower people, and create opportunities that we haven’t even imagined yet. But I also think that realizing those possibilities requires responsibility, accountability, transparency, and meaningful safeguards.

AI isn’t going to make humanity better simply by existing.

We have to choose to use it to make humanity better.

And that’s why I believe we should stop treating AI as something that we must either worship or fear.

Instead, we should focus on understanding it, improving it, regulating it responsibly, and making sure that it serves the people who use it.

Because at the end of the day, AI is a tool.

And what we do with that tool is up to us.

What do you think? Do you believe AI has the potential to make the world a better place, or are you more concerned about where things are headed? And how do you think we should balance the potential benefits of AI with the very real problems that come with it?

I’d love to hear your thoughts.

After all, the future of AI is something that affects all of us. And I think we should all have a say in what that future looks like.