Recently, I ran a quick, random survey to check how people are dealing with AI. The questions were simple:
- Do you use AI? (Yes/No)
- If yes, did you start using it directly or take a course first? (Direct/Study)
- Do you use AI for work or hobby? (Work/Leisure/Both)
The results were surprising (for me). I was under the impression that most people had already taken to AI. And that many were studying or taking at least free courses on AI. While 62% of the respondents were using AI in some form, all of those who were using AI had just started using the tools without any formal training or study. That’s 100%, which is unprecedented in terms of adapting to a new technology. That’s how accessible and intuitive Generative AI tools are. Uses cases were also a surprise for me: 82% of respondents who are using Generative AI are using it for work. I had assumed that most would have started exploring it for leisure or creative or hobby purposes and I think my perception was based on the fact that most social media posts related to Generative AI outfits are all creative or entertainment related. Of course the survey led to several followup conversations on type of tasks that AI can do well and how efficient are the outputs, etc.
But it is important to note that 38% of the respondents are not using AI and also have no plans to use it in the near future. For most of them there is no resistance or aversion – they are just not interested in what AI has to offer. And this is an important insight that is not obvious if we consider typical news and trends that general media, social media, marketers and AI companies push out to us. The impression created in the broader world is that AI is taking over everything, most people are using AI and so on. The purpose of such ‘news’ and trends is to create an anxiety or artificial need on account of being left out.
Even among those respondents who are using AI, they are not using it extensively. They are using it for repetitive, boring, or tedious tasks or for fun and exercising judgment judiciously, evaluating AI outcomes closely.
There are however significant sections of people who are not adopting or exploring AI mainly out of fear or inhibitions about loss of ability, loss of skills, privacy concerns, all of which are valid reasons.
Some people tend to do things, then adjust or improve based on what they learned from doing. After some time they try to get a formal understanding of what they are doing, how it is relevant. After some more time, if they are still interested in the subject matter, they try and get structured knowledge (training, or an education). Finally, after a lot more time, they get to a point where they can think deeply about the subject matter, its philosophy and can ask and answer existential questions.
Some people tend to think about things, then share by speaking or writing, adjusting and improving based on feedback, discussions with others and further thought. After some time they get an education, learning from more learned people, comparing new knowledge with what they thought. After some more time, if they are still interested in the subject matter, they work in a structured manner in a real-world situation to test what they have learned for years. Finally, after a lot more time, they get to a point where they can apply and think deeply about the subject matter, its philosophy and can ask and answer existential questions.
What I have described is called a binary. In every day language, a binary is two clear and opposite parts or positions. And obviously I am defining thinking and doing as opposites. This is not true in all cases, but I am defining it as such. In reality, human beings can have other natures as well, but most of them are usually a combination of thinking and doing. I have used a binary to show two ends of a range.
AI is on a spectrum defined by the binary of Adoption and Rejection. There are those who are exploring it and there are those are not. In between these two extremes (binary points) lies a range that defines the spectrum. A simple spectrum would read something like:
Adoption<Adaptation<Exploration<Neutral>Inhibition>Resistance>Rejection
But a life without AI is as good a life. Just as a lifestyle without air travel or air conditioning or antibiotics can lead to as good a lifestyle as any other. These are just choices.
My experience is that for every change, I go through a cycle of four stages: Exploration, Literacy, Education and Study. Exploration is the stage where I am winging it, doing stuff and gathering practical information, learning from it and doing stuff again. Pure experience. Literacy is when I consciously set out to find some structured knowledge, inform myself about knowledge that is already available on the subject. The purpose of literacy is to provide meaningful information for decision making usually related to further interest. Content or material that aids literacy is not about detailed academics or theory but overview in nature, providing links between theory and practice, technology and everyday life and so on. Next comes education which is really a deeper dive into the theory and procedures and knowhow so that I can build serious skills related to the subject and use it with some level of proficient in everyday life and even aim for mastery of some areas. Finally comes study. The simplest of the words but really much more complex. Study is the stage when I finally have sufficient knowledge and experience to look at the change or subject at a philosophical level, to judge whether it is good for me, for society, or for existence itself. These stages are not exclusive nor are they dependent on duration of time. They can happen simultaneously or in sequence and as quickly or as slowly as one wants. The pace really depends on the individual.
At this moment, AI is free. Free in the sense that you and I can explore it without someone breathing down our necks, telling us how to use it, what to use it for, how much to use it, when to use it and so on. In the history of human civilisation, technologies have been rarely accessible to the common people. And when they have been, people have rarely understood its importance, its impact, its uses. AI is different because because it is an unpredictable, evolving technology and companies need people to use it so that they can get a handle on what it can be used for. But by the time most people realise the importance of participating in the free access, the freedom would have passed, big business would have found the way to control and monetise access. So this is a good time to explore AI, evaluate its usefulness, weaknesses, risks, and inform oneself sufficiently to make a long term decision.