There’s an ongoing and heated debate about whether generative AI — like the technology that powers OpenAI’s ChatGPT — is either an overblown parlor trick, or a an existential threat to humanity that’s already raging out of control. The truth is of course some more nuanced point between these two extremes, but no matter what side you’re on, you should realize it’s already powerful enough to reshape industries and provoke another transformational shift in the broader working world.
It’s an odd feeling being employed in one of those industries that seems likely to be most impacted by the changes wrought by generative AI. Overall, it’s becoming clear that the fields which will feel it most will be white-collar and knowledge workers: It turns out it’s much harder to program a real-world robot to be able to interact with and manipulate its surroundings than it is to create a virtual sophist or a bot that groks the secret power language of code.
Some days, I honestly feel ...
