Use it or lose it
By Gregory Ronczewski, Director of Product Design at Ibbaka. See his skill profile.
There is quite a bit of excitement around the new AI ChatGPT and its capabilities. But, to be honest, it doesn't excite me that much. On the contrary, it makes me a bit sad. Sad because here we praise yet another invention that will further reduce the need to use what we were given at the beginning of our journey. Use it or lose it, that's right. The brain needs exercises, like muscles, but instead of thinking, we all—including me—have smartphones and all the fancy gizmos that suppose to help. Growing up in Poland, having a phone line was not assumed. No surprise here. Our communist rulers did not want us to talk to each other, hence the "controlled conversation mode" they introduced on December 13, 1981 - 41 years ago. Still, we memorized the phone numbers of friends, family and practical services. Many numbers. Now, I don't need to remember anything. I don't even need to remember how to get from A to Z rendering spacial awareness of the city unnecessary. After all, that's why cars have GPS, right? Just punch the address, or even better, say it aloud, and the car will do the rest.
Thinking becomes a thing of the past. Totally passé. My son signed up to ChatGPT to see what the chatter is about. Sure thing, it works exceptionally well. Several of his colleagues cheered the idea that homework would require no studying, no writing, absolutely nothing except composing a query and then masterfully performing the grand finale—cut-and-paste. Fantastic indeed.
What will happen to those moments of reflection when words organized by a gifted fellow Homo sapiens result in astonishment and admiration for their incredible skill? Like reading what Zbigniew Herbert left us with. The same goes for music and visual art. There is a reason why looking at Vermeer changes the viewer, or Cézanne, for that matter. Does it matter anymore with Dall-E (another AI from the same company, Open.ai, this one for image generation) and other "cool" inventions?
Left: Johannes Vermeer (1632-1675), ‘Woman Writing a Letter, with her Maid', c.1670. Image © National Gallery of Ireland; Center: Stanisław Horno-Popławski (1902-1997), ‘Pamięci łączniczkom,’1968, Sopot City Park; Right: ‘A sea otter in the style of Girl with a Pearl Earring’ Image Credits: OpenAI. I admit, the otter looks awesome!
The Billion Dollar Code is a 2021 German television miniseries available on Netflix. Apparently, it is based on actual events, but it really doesn't matter. It's a great show where the audience can almost physically experience the struggling protagonist's desire to overcome technical limitations. For sure, it's just a story, but how many times did we stand at a junction about to make a decision? Or when we finally managed to produce a satisfying result, the sense of accomplishment created a stepping stone leading to the next challenge. Let's cherish those moments because with the AI bearing on us, they could be gone and forgotten. Another passé experience. In the movie, the main characters discuss Google's tagline - don't be evil - they all look out the window and reflect on how cool it sounds. Does it still stand?
I just went for a swim. I know, it's a weird thing to do. The ocean was on the cold side, 7ºC, but I still did it. Why? Because I have a choice.
I read what I wrote so far, and I reckon it has some gloom & doom tint applied, but it should not. We can either blindly embrace the new technology or use critical thinking instead and choose what to do with it. Please, don't get me wrong. These are impressive achievements, and I would love to see art installations that use this technology, Dall-E or ChatGPT or new ones, even a fusion of different AIs. Perhaps I am reading too much into ChatGPT. When digital photography entered the market, many artists declared the end of darkroom skills, yet we have digital and film-based cameras. Or 3D printing that allows owning a "genuine" Rodin sculpture within minutes. The question remains, who would do it and why? I ask myself, what would my grandfather, Stanisław Horno-Popławski do? He spent his life trying to figure out what nature so cleverly hid in granite stones one finds around dirt roads. After spending some time with a stone, my father or I helped to get to his studio, with a few chisel strokes, a face would emerge, completely changing the perception of this ordinary piece of rock. What would he think about the possibility of programming a mechanical chisel by asking for a "subtle, female face." Joseph Beuys said, "The thought is sculpture." So perhaps the outcome is less important than the original thought? Should we add another skill to the Ibbaka Talio Platform - Asking ChatGPT questions, or Writing bot prompts?
My colleague, Steven Forth, has written on How to price AI content generation (about DalliE) and asked ChatGPT how to price for product led growth.
