With all the talk about AI, it’s common and human to feel anxious about the future of the world. It seems like in just a few years, we’ll be living in Will Smith’s I, Robot world, where humanoid robots walk the streets. Or perhaps, more likely, it will resemble a Black Mirror episode. Netflix might launch a show about your life, created with AI, offering it up for your consumption. It feels increasingly like we are the product. AI and big tech can seem like a monster, and there’s no knight in shining armor to save the everyday person from being a forever damsel in distress, locked in a studio apartment tower with low water pressure and no heating or AC.
But AI is not all bad. It’s a tool. It’s telling that our use of AI has mostly been about outsourcing labor we don’t want to do. I’m particularly guilty of this as well—using AI to write a paper for me, apply for jobs, or create descriptions. It feels like I’m using it like a virtual understudy, performing my life for me while I take a break in the back, doing what I don’t want to do. But what if we used it differently?
AI, when connected to the internet, is incredibly powerful. It can go from being a proofreader to a teacher. There are wonderful tools that leverage AI to do things we have no ability to do—not just things we simply don’t want to do. What if, instead of asking AI to solve your homework for you, you used it to summarize content, ask it to explain topics in simple terms, or help create a story guide? You could use it to make a mind map, create a timeline, summarize characters, or even generate practice tests and flashcards. AI can help you improve yourself, test your skills, and learn alongside you.
A tool particularly good at this is Google’s free Notebook LM. A tool that allows you to submit information to source from and helps create summaries, timelines, FAQs and has a built in chat to ask about the material. It even offers the tool to create an audio overview of the material and create a two-person podcast that discusses the topics provided.
Tech is the new overlord of the world, it’s possible to do almost anything in todays life without interacting with a piece of tech. Years ago, people missed the wave and lived to regret it and tell the tale, you see it in the middle aged people in managerial positions struggling to add a file attachment to an email, activate their cameras on a meeting or saving a file as a PDF.
AI is the next wave of tech, machine learning and outsourcing human labor is where the market is headed. I understand the fear of technology taking our place in society. I for one, believe we should use AI to operate the front end of businesses, gather info or take care of repetitive tasks. Use AI to optimize the work so we can focus on art and connection.
The fear is well founded, but standing in that fear is not the solution. If you’re worried of where the world is heading, make sure you are a player to help steer it in the right direction. Don’t fear the big man, become the big man and fight your fight.
Don’t miss the next big wave, jump on it and learn to ride it.
At the end of the day, when you lie in bed at night, swim at sea, or meditate and reflect on your life, it’s only you—the knowledge you cared to acquire—that arms you to face the outside world. AI is learning from us every day. Why shouldn’t we learn from it too?
Try using AI tools like Google’s Notebook LM to summarize what you learn or create practice tests. Challenge yourself to engage with AI in ways that enhance your understanding and skills, turning it from a simple task assistant into a powerful learning partner. Use it to unwind, ask for ways to better yourself, create a healthy routines, recommend life improvements. Remember to always take it with a grain of salt, like any advice from a friendly stranger or a friend on a coffee date.
Choose to make yourself smarter with AI, not to dumb yourself down. The brain is a muscle; don’t let it atrophy.
Antonio P Argueta 
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