The world is evolving rapidly, and resisting the changes that this fact has brought about is futile. Surrender, because it is more than time to take advantage of the opportunities that technological advances provide.
Let us start with a brief personal context: it has been 40 years since my first contact with computers, in 1982. I had the opportunity to enter the technology world quite early, when everything was still "disconnected"; the processing power of computers was very limited: one example of this was that I was learning to program with a mere 2 Kbytes of RAM, to give an idea, that is equivalent to just over 2,000 characters.
A lot has changed since then, and I confess that almost nothing that emerged in that time was, in fact, a surprise. The expansion of the Internet, practically infinite storage capacity, and the pocket computer... it was all a matter of when, not if.
Obviously, nobody had a crystal ball, let alone the chance to visit the future before it happened (sic). But I grew up absorbing content from authors with dazzling visions of the future, not always happy ones: Isaac Asimov, HG Wells, Julio Verne, Carl Sagan, and many others.
So the if was already settled, in my view. What was uncertain and therefore distant was the when. I did not know I would be alive to enjoy the technological advances that were presented to me as science fiction!
That was the real surprise: the SPEED at which things happened!
And today? Well, we have the reality of artificial intelligence happening at scale. Predictable? Yes. But in this case, the when arrived at an absurdly thrilling point: OpenAI (ChatGPT) brought into our daily lives what I believe is the closest thing to HAL 9000, the "computer" protagonist of the film "2001: A Space Odyssey", a 1968 film. 1968!
It is clear that a major milestone is being established right now. And the astonishment of everyone faced with what OpenAI has built is of an indefinable beauty, and much more is still to come.
However, this reality drives (almost) everyone toward the common debate: "but how many jobs will AI eliminate?" At this point, I recall a few talks I had the fortunate opportunity to attend at the 2017 edition of SXSW. Two things stood out for me:
1. Humans have already been replaced for some time in many activities, and for good reason. The pace and intensity of this will be greater going forward. I recommend the authors and the book What To Do When Machines Do Everything.
2. Countless new opportunities are emerging or will emerge, and we humans are being AMPLIFIED. In this regard, I recommend the talk Intelligence Augmentation - The Next-Gen AI, by Melanie Cook.
Wrapping up...
A close friend of mine recently summarized his perception of ChatGPT to me in the following way:
Man, this is the closest thing to what I imagined a computer would be like when I was ten years old!
I agree. And all of this gives us much to think about:
Are we ready to be replaced by machines?
As a society, are we ready to take advantage of the hybridization of humans and robots?
Do our current education and teaching models and methods support these advances?
Bonus: how to try OpenAI?
Study, play around, show your friends, colleagues, and family members... get close to this revolution. I GUARANTEE you will be surprised in a genuinely positive way!
Create an account at OpenAI.
Access ChatGPT with the account you created and ask anything, on any topic. The tool understands Portuguese, so you do not need to write in English. Have a natural conversation, ask for examples, details, and facts.
Take it in.
Access DALL-E with the account you created.
Ask it to create an image. One example: "An 8-bit art of a white furry monster with horns in a purple room".
Take it in.
Adriano Pereira Passionate about Technology, Marketing, Data, Results, and People. Partner at AdvisorTips. Original publication on LinkedIn
