FROM THE EDITOR
One has to wonder whether we’re raising a nation of helpless individuals too reliant on technology to do things for themselves.
Consider the latest red flag in the battle for human self-determination: During the Olympics, a commercial aired in which a little girl who wanted to write a fan letter to an athlete was urged to let artificial intelligence — or AI — draft most of the missive for her.
The narration claimed the software merely offered assistance, but it sounds like the technology based on a soulless algorithm actually is cheating the child out of a true creative experience and the chance to personally connect with another human being.
If we start using AI to write letters — or essays, reports, books, screenplays and even news stories — what happens to literacy? Whither goest artistry?
If this practice spreads, the next generation won’t be able to compose an independent thought to save themselves.
What does that say for the future of human achievement if we habitually consult our smartphones or AI voiceresponse applications before we make a decision?
High-tech is good for some things, not so good for others. It’s time to start reining in some of these practices.
This is not the ranting one might hear from an old fogey pining for the “days of yesteryear.” This is a warning about the loss of self-reliance.
Laugh if you will, but an older visitor stopping recently at a gas station to buy a folded paper map was told by a twenty-something clerk no one sells them any longer because “your phone’s GPS tells you where to go.”
Map reading used to be a basic skill, just like memorizing important phone numbers.
We are slowly giving up our independence and, like a frog in a pot that doesn’t realize the gradually rising temperature will soon boil it, we could become totally inept at managing our own affairs.
We already ride in driverless cars, and we have autos that parallel park, back up and stop on their own. Software that follows our conversations and online searches throw targeted ads and political messages at us all day long. We order drinks and food on apps, then pick up the fare without ever engaging in human conversation.
The machines are isolating us, cutting us off from each other and stifling our self-expression. What’s worse is that we’re willingly allowing this to happen in the name of convenience.
Our brains created this technology. The time has come to use that same brainpower to maintain our mastery over the machines before it’s too late.
Thomas Edwards
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