We are experiencing a technological superstorm. What do the mind-boggling AI advancements mean for daily life, and how might they fundamentally change what it means to be human? I’m here to help navigate the chaos with humor and honesty.
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While we were busy working, parenting, cultivating relationships, and pursuing happiness (and sanity), AI was unleashed on us without our consent.
Until early 2023, aside from arguing with Alexa about her constant interruptions, I wasn’t thinking much about AI. That changed when an article in the NYT sparked an idea leading to two years of intense research and writing. I recently handed off my speculative fiction novel, ARTIFICIAL, to my agent. My plan was to get reacquainted with my family as the wheels of the publishing world turned. But AI has a hold on me and won’t let go.
I was left with more questions than answers and some startling conclusions. AI is far more advanced than most realize. Largely unregulated and moving at breakneck speed, tech giants are in an all-out AI arms race, yet no one really knows what “getting there first” means. The “doom and gloomers” give it a legit shot at destroying humanity (Stephen Hawking, Yoshua Bengio, Geoffrey Hinton). The optimists (typically those still getting a fat paycheck from the exploding AI industry) believe it will solve all society's ills. I find myself somewhere in the middle, hoping the AI armies don't come first.
My mission is to help demystify what AI will mean in our daily lives and discuss what it means to be human in an increasingly artificial world. Bi-weekly posts of Celeste Garcia Gets Real About AI might feature humorous “what ifs,” like meeting your AI daughter-in-law, or a nightmare relative achieving immortality, followed by a rundown of the bio-nano-AI tech that could make it reality. Or I may simply dive into interesting or troubling aspects of AI, like copyright infringement and the fast and furious release of models that have fundamental flaws.
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