Really?

According to Wikipedia, AI is capable of generating text, images, videos, or other data using generative models, often in response to prompts. These models learn patterns and structure and then generate new models.

Sounds kind of scary. And in some ways it is. It’s getting harder and harder to differentiate between real photos and deep fakes. Artificially generated voices sound just like the real people they’re emulating, and AI-generated text can easily replicate the style of a given writer.

But does that mean we’re doomed? Not likely. We already have integrated many “AI-like” tools into our everyday lives, from Amazon and Netflix recommendations to structural engineering and medical diagnosis and treatment models. Technology has been moving forward with new and creative ways to solve problems for generations. What do you think your great grandparents would have thought of iPhones, GPS systems, and automated systems that alert their handlers they need immediate attention?

Will jobs be lost to the next generation of technology? Undoubtedly. Just as we no longer have elevator attendants, phone operators, or bridge toll takers in today’s world, we likely won’t need many repetitive fairly mindless jobs that are around today.

Will the world end because of this? Unlikely. We’re now facing a global fertility crisis, where more people are dying than being born to replace them. As the population ages, we’ll need more tools and technologies to help us work more efficiently, stay healthier as we age, take better care ofthe world we live in, and manage the AI-generated systems around us.

We’ll create new occupations to replace those that are no longer necessary. It’s as impossible for us to imagine what they’ll be, just as it would have been for your ancestors to imagine some of the tech we take for granted today.

Will AI replace humans? It’s been nearly 400 years since Antonio Stradiveri crafted exquisite string instruments and over 300 since Cristofori produced the world’s first piano. Yet, we are nowhere near able to recreate the magic of a musical virtuoso with even the best of today’s technology.

AI may be the end of the world as we know it. Or, it may be that we just evolve to a better place where we still feel just fine.