I’m So Conflicted about AI

let’s talk about why

• Top 5 things that ignite my creative soul
• Top 5 things that keep me up at night

G’day!

Welcome to my first introductory newsletter.

We’re at a pivotal moment – AI will revolutionise humanity. Decisions we all make will impact in what ways it does.

Almost all digital teams across product-tech companies, digital agencies and government digital services are racing to implement new AI features, create new AI products or services experiences.

My concern is that the general lack of awareness about the importances of AI Ethical principles or how to implement them with their latest AI features, marketing campaigns or customer service interactions.

Good people in digital teams making uninformed decisions can lead to unintended consequences.

AI’s core tech may seem neutral, but our choices shape its impact. AI’s impact hinges on our choices. Choice of training data shapes its knowledge. How thoroughly we test it. What deployment safeguards we put in place. How transparent we make AI’s decision making. Together, these factors impact our AI experiences.

I hope to make learning to adapt to AI enhanced ways of working and Ethical AI implementation more approachable.

But to kick off i thought i’d share my top 10 reasons I’m conflicted – Together they drove me to my new mission to create AI Flywheel and openly discuss responsible innovation and AI ethics from a human-centred perspective.

The Stuff That Blows My Mind

1. Just in time learning ​

AI transforms learning by offering instant knowledge on any topic. Imagine having a friend who is always there and knows everything. Unlike Google, this friend not only shares information but also helps explain it to you so you understand it. They can summarise complex research or concepts into simplified language that summaries key points, and allowing you to ask questions to delve deeper. All this is democratising access to knowledge that up until now you had to go to university to acquire – its likely to have similar wide spread ramifications similar to the introduction of the Gutenberg Press.

But, to me this begs the question: Does this change the plans of every school leaver? Are costly bachelor’s degrees still worth it, particularly when the pace of change would see most of it out of date by graduation? If not, what do school leavers do as junior roles are now definitely the easiest to replace with AI? Are we creating a perfect storm for youth unemployment?

2. Creativity for everyone

As a design leader for over 15 years, my visual design skills remain laughable. Yet AI now translates my ideas into visuals effortlessly.

This revolution empowers the artistically challenged (like me), unleashing our creative potential. Downside is that it’s already resulting in a flood of AI generated content that is likely to get worse.

But it raises questions: How will this reshape human ingenuity? How do creative professionals earn money from their skills. The future of creativity stands at a fascinating crossroads, full of promise and uncertainty.

3. Starting a Business Made Easier

AI revolutionises entrepreneurship, empowering novices like me to launch businesses with greater ease. In partnership with different AI systems I have effortlessly generated plans, budgets, and content—skills I lacked initially.

Based on a wide array of my own experiments I reckon partnering with AI in this way gets me to roughly 60-80% of production that a senior human expert could do. For some tasks this is honestly just fine but for those that require 100% I have then taken it to human expertise to review and improve.

This accessibility thrills me, yet a moral dilemma persists. As I leverage AI over professional experts, what happens to professionals who used to guide startups? Progress has both benefits and drawbacks. It opens up opportunities but could also push out traditional business roles.

4. Everything Just for You

AI is personalising everything. Your online activities, product suggestions, and learning can be customised. It’s convenient but also raises concerns.

Privacy is definitely the biggest concern. Hyper-personalisation requires access to a lot of data about you. Have you given permission for its use this way? And how is that data being combined with other data to make decisions about your experiences?

We are also already seeing greater divisions in societies around the world – are we creating more echo chambers just like those in social media, but on a bigger scale? What will be the consequences of that.

5. Ideas to Reality in No Time

AI turbocharges innovation, propelling ideas from conception to reality at breakneck speed. While further advances is needed for high fidelity – you can already design, low fidelity prototype, and test five concepts in the time it once took you to design 2 and internally review them.

This acceleration is exhilarating, yet deeply concerning.

Are we racing ahead too quickly? Do we pause enough to consider unintended consequences? Are we thoroughly vetting model outputs and implementing safeguards? And, are we upholding AI ethics? Are we preserving human autonomy? Are we ensuring oversight and transparency in AI decision-making for users?

Now for the Stuff That Keeps Me Up at Night

Sleepless

6. AI Doing the Unexpected ​

AI’s unexpected skills both amaze and unsettle us. OpenAI’s ChatGPT-4 experiment had two versions talk to each other. They showed unexpected independence. The bots created their own new language and solved problems in ways their creators couldn’t understand. This prompted a shutdown.

Did the Terminator movies not teach us anything? The year we lost control of AI. You know what is a little unsettling a smarter ChatGPT version ready to release that is PHD level smart in 2025.

7. Fake Stuff That Looks Real ​

AI can create super convincing fake videos and images. It’s cool for movies, but what about when it’s used to spread false information?

For the first time in human history, you can’t believe your eyes or ears. Truth becomes blurry. If truth becomes blurry, than we lose trust in systems and each other.

8. AI Picking Up Our Bad Habits

Data shapes AI, mirroring human biases, even magnifying them. As architects of AI products and services, we bear a weighty duty: gather ethical, unbiased data.

Rigorously test AI outputs across diverse user groups. Ensure balance and fairness. Vigilance is key to creating AI that serves all equitably. Our challenge? Crafting systems that transcend prejudice, fostering inclusion in every interaction.

9. Changing Jobs Landscape

AI’s rapid rise reshapes employment drastically. Unlike previous eras, this shift unfolds at breakneck speed. The Industrial Revolution certainly overhauled work, but it did it over 3 centuries. The Information age that we all just lived through, has a similar impact, but took decades.

Now, AI promises seismic job market shifts within years. It’s predicted that by 2030 55% of job tasks can be done by AI. While some roles vanish, others slowly emerge but in the meantime, mass unemployment looms, affecting communities universally. Even those in secure positions feel the tremors.

Adaptability is the number 1 skill for the AI age. Those who pivot and evolve will thrive amidst upheaval. Flexibility reigns supreme in this new landscape, where change is the only constant.

10. Privacy in a Data-Hungry World

AI requires vast amounts of data for optimal performance, raising privacy concerns. The challenge is to balance AI’s benefits with personal information protection. These systems aren’t static; they continuously learn and improve.

Reports say OpenAI and its rivals took all web content to train their models. This raises the question: Is it too late to safeguard our individual privacy?

Remember, it’s not about choosing between the positive changes and negative concerns. It’s about finding innovative ways to address them all simultaneously.

How can this newsletter be of most valuable to you?

I want to ensure that this newsletter really valuable for you every week. To do that I would love your input on what you’d like to see included.

Let’s explore AI’s possibilities and grow our skills together.

Until next time… Take it easy.

Riley

“The future of design isn’t about choosing between human and artificial intelligence – it’s about ensuring human agency grows stronger as AI grows more powerful.” – Riley Coleman, AI Flywheel