Artificial Intelligence (AI), the new frontier
Advent
It was mid-November when an AI meltdown of epic proportions took place. It played out on social media, and users witnessed one of the most insane or is it inane, roller-coaster-like circuses I have ever been privy to watch from the distant side lines.
An AI fracas of a circus
Jog your memory? Well, the company leading the AI charge, the ultimate vanguard of developing AI, OpenAI, in a way no one could describe as surreptitious, decided to fire its Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Sam Altman. All the more jarring, as he had been the face of the company and a leading voice in AI. Absolute insanity ensued.
I am as fearful of the impact of AI on my career prospects as anyone else, but the news just felt so random. It all started on a Friday. And by the Monday, there had been an interim CEO, a new CEO, a call for the board to resign, mutinous staff rumours and regret.
This high-stakes incident led to another anomaly: the former CEO was then hired by OpenAI’s leading investor. Sam Altman was thus hired and hired in days. It felt as dizzying as the waves AI was making, and most of us reeled with all these new announcements.
Then there was a twist in the story. There was a revolt among the company’s employees demanding the former CEO’s reinstatement. And, by the Tuesday, a scant five days later, Sam Altman was back in the driving seat … with a new board.
What I found most interesting about this whole debacle, and there was much oddity and absurdity, to be honest, was the fact that Sam Altman was fired because he had “not been candid in his communications.” Of course, as someone who has more than a cursory interest in communication, it had my ears pricked up nicely. A Business Insider article a while later shed some light. Read it here.
AI’s threat to life as we know it
At the time, X’s Elon Musk asked them to elaborate on the reasons as it really appeared to be making a mountain out of a molehill. But the threat of AI to human life as we know has to be managed properly. He felt it was imperative that there was more transparency.
Anyone embarking on any career or contemplating a change these days has to consider AI. For starters, the workforce is projected to shrink due to AI’s capability of doing a myriad of tasks faster than most humans. Thus, a reduction in the number of jobs available is probable, at a time when most economies are struggling, which is not good news.
Secondly, it has the ability to outright replace certain types of jobs that used to command good salaries. In my case, tasks like editing, proofreading, and translating could all be done much quicker by a programme. I had to take this into account when considering my options after voluntary retrenchment where these were a significant part of my role.
ChatGPT telling it like it is
I ran it past ChatGPT. I prompted it about the idea that machine learning could do tasks so quickly and that it could effectively dissuade humans from putting in the effort to learn new skills as their efforts in the beginning would look amateurish at best. Here is what it had to say:
“Human learning and machine learning serve different purposes and have their own strengths and weaknesses. It’s not necessarily a matter of one looking “amateurish” or being eschewed in favo[u]r of the other, but rather a matter of understanding when and how to use each approach effectively.”
It went on to list the advantages of human learning as follows:
- Creativity and Adaptability
- Contextual Understanding
- Decision-Making
- Domain Expertise
- Teaching and Supervision
“On the other hand, machine learning excels in areas where large volumes of data need to be processed quickly and efficiently. Machine learning models can handle repetitive, data-driven tasks, automate decision-making, and find patterns in massive datasets.”
Its conclusion was that “human learning and machine learning are complementary, and neither should be viewed as “amateurish.” Instead, they should be used together strategically to solve problems and make informed decisions efficiently and effectively.”
In the image of God
At a time when our humanity seems replaceable, our skills and livelihoods under threat, isn’t it amazing that we are made in the image of our God, that the mould used to create us has been broken as we are one of a kind. Even identical twins have different fingerprints and characteristics.
No, to God, we are fearfully and wonderfully made. For the one who knows the number of hairs on our heads and knows our very heartbeat, we are irreplaceable and he has sent his Son to come down to us to save us from our wiliest enemy. How great the Father’s love is.
But the devil …
But the devil is not a deceiver for nothing; he has also sown double-mindedness in all of this causing us to doubt God’s Word. An old trick, I must admit. Here is how the Word of God describes it:
The route of freelancing, being an online business owner, solopreneur, writepreneur – however you would like to define it – is not for the faint-hearted. Doubt is always there, threatening to knock the wind out of our sails.
There are always people willing to criticise and point out our weaknesses. When we are desperately trying to be successful at a new venture, no matter how well we have prepared – heartless, flippant statements can hit hard. Initially, the fruit of our labour can be described as few and far between so it can be doubly disheartening.
Algorithms can be fickle
Time and time again, some of the biggest names in the online creator space have said that it had taken a lot of time to get established and mentioned the rejection that came along the way.
Establishing oneself on a social media platform can take months, if not years, of concerted effort. Algorithms can seem fickle, change all the time and play havoc with one’s self-worth. In other words, creators have to play the long game from the beginning.
Some YouTubers have been lucky! For them, what may have started out as a hobby has become a paying gig. But it still requires effort to pitch up week in, week out with a fresh take on a niche with a smile on one’s face, working hard to maintain a fickle audience.
Being a content creator is hard – this year saw phenomenal changes with AI besides the glaring one I mentioned and Google’s updates have left even more people scratching their heads.
Search engine optimisation (SEO) used to be blogger’s bread and butter for drawing traffic to their websites and was hailed as the route to stable income and a savvy part of online entrepreneurs’ business strategy. Yet now it has been upended by “not-so-helpful” updates and once again, online peeps are left in a quandary.
Know your “why”
To be able to withstand the barrage of challenges that face on the online-business journey, people have been advocating that one has to know your “why”. If, like me, you wanted to do something in order to diversify your income, be your own boss, limit interaction with potentially not-so-nice co-workers, etc., it is important to keep committing it to God.
If he has made a way for it to happen, he is able to sustain you no matter what comes your way. One of my friends, a true inspiration on this path, often reminds me that God can do the impossible, and he works miracles too, in favour of those who have faith.
No time for double-mindedness
Being double-minded is like the shifting of the shadows, you cannot peg something down. You cannot measure it and, even worse, you cannot alter course correctly if you are not sticking to a plan. At best, it is grasping at straws. Truly, it requires courage to stay the course.
It is easy to fall prey to double-mindedness with all the changes that come along and upend the work one has spent years doing. But standing on the Word of God literally helps one to stand one’s ground.
Nothing is impossible
To conclude, the Christmas-holiday season is the perfect time for reflection. Let us remember our worth as humans crafted by God. We can take on any challenge we may face knowing that the God of the universe, the One we celebrate over Christmas has the power to do anything and for him nothing is impossible.
Helping us to reach our goals as well as sustain our bodies, lives and families is completely up his street. He promises to help us use what he has given us and, to boot, he had set out for mankind to work from the very beginning. Surely, he will help us to do the required work with help from our machine “friends” right there to help us along. What do you think?
If this has encouraged you somewhat and helped to allay your fears, then please hit the heart button right at the bottom. Share the love with others who could benefit. Feel free to share your thoughts in the comments as well and be sure to follow me on Pinterest or X.
Please note Scripture quoted throughout is taken from the New International Version.
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