I came upon the above cartoon this morning and it caught my attention. It should catch our attention. What is our world becoming as we fall (or rather jump) into the hands of technology?
Sure, technology has made our lives easier and, in many ways, better (and safer—I love the Ford 360 Co-Pilot 360™, for example). Nevertheless, we must consider what we are losing. Some may say I am whining about nothing when I complain my kids can’t write in cursive (or how crappy my students’ penmanship is), but…. Sure, Spellcheck and Autocorrect are great features on my computer—provided I don’t lose my knowledge of grammar or my ability to spell words correctly. The latest concern for academics in Chat GPT. I admit, I like some of the potential for this, but…. The cartoon depicts a robot reading (hmmm, Chat GPT??) and a robot drawing while humanity is staring at blue screens. There are apps now that can “create art.” What future is there for the human artist? Computers can and will learn—and learn to learn. On one hand, this should scare the sh** out of us. On the other hand, we can see a level of benefit—if approached with wisdom. The challenge will be: what happens while we are staring at our screens?
The most disturbing thing about the cartoon is the disconnection among the humans. I see it in my classrooms and in the hallways—students on their phones rather than conversing with the person next to them. I am awed when I see a group sitting at a table in a restaurant all staring at their phones. We have laws about texting while driving, but pedestrians who text while walking are minimally annoying, if not dangerous.
I love that we have a world of information at our fingertips, but there is a cost. What that cost may be is determined by how we engage with the information (or often misinformation).
Technology should lead us to more social interaction rather than less. We should have more time to build relationships rather than less. We should become more connected rather than less.
We should not yield our creative mind to AI. If we do, humanity will be lost–not to mention the true gift of the artist. AI can mimic the expression of emotion, but it will always lack the human spirit.
We should not yield our intellect to AI. If we do, we become the robots.
It appears that humanity is at a fork in the road. Which path will it take?
What will be lost of our Spiritual, Physical, Intellectual, Emotional, and Social well-being if we give ourselves over to technology?
Be your best today; be better tomorrow.
Carpe momento!