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What Is AI… I Mean, Really?

Technology continues to face the problem of “definition.”

Many of the experts in the metaverse have a hard time explaining what the metaverse is.
Many of the experts in the Web3 world have a hard time explaining what Web3 is.
It feels like the same thing for artificial intelligence.

It seems like everything these days is AI.

Here’s what I think AI is: A software/code/algorithm that learns how to do things on its own, and also has the ability to explain its reasoning without ever being programmed by a human on either of those two main concepts.
I’m sure that’s simplistic.
I’m sure many will jump on that definition and add clarity (please do).
Maybe that’s why I had a good chuckle reading the Inc. Magazine article, Stop Calling Everything A.I. It’s Just Computers Doing Computer Stuff.

AI is real, but a lot of the hype and marketing jargon is simply riding on the frothiness of what the term “AI” delivers at the box office and the valuation of a company.

Some are even wondering if ChatGPT is even truly an AI, versus a human-programmed interface that is very good at parsing and organizing words based off of the inputs it continues to receive (and those inputs are of scale).
With that, it seems like AI might evolve beyond the current shiny object into a purely mundane functionality of how we use computers (think spreadsheets, maps, word processing, etc.).
It’s just “there” in everything… like copy and paste.
That’s the argument made in this article from The Guardian: AI will be everywhere, but its rise will be mundane not apocalyptic.

But… wait… there’s more…

What if AI is as advertised?
What if AI changes all the rules (and breaks them too)?
What if AI is the true automation and creation for the “thinking class”… then what?
Well, according to academic, writer and big brain, Yuval Noah Harari, we will create “The Useless Class” in relation to “The Working Class”… and we’re going to need a complete different approach to civilization than we thought.
And you can read more about that right here: The Rise of The Useless Class.

Where does that leave us?

As someone who has spent a very long time listening to every side of the AI story and beyond, it’s very clear that nobody really knows.
It’s very clear that the future used to be this opaque space off in the distance, and that now the future feels like it could turn things on our heads tomorrow.
And, what scares me more than that is the blatant reality that even the actual AI experts (the ones building these super-intelligent programs and building the companies around it) can’t agree on what this is or where it’s going.
So, maybe (and hear me out for a second), instead of worrying about what AI might be come, we should first concentrate on what we, the humans (you know, the ones who are creating this automation and replacement for us) might want first?

Crazy… I know.

What is Tech Tuesday?

Every Tuesday – for just a few minutes – I join Heather Backman (my old buddy from her days on CHOM FM and Jack 103) on the air at 95.9 Star FM to give a quick blast about the current state of technology, media and Internet culture.
We call it Tech Tuesday (and we do it in just a few minutes).

Once the segment goes live on 95.9 Star FM, I will post it here for you to listen in, learn, share and engage.

https://api.soundcloud.com/tracks/1526381821

Mitch Joel · What Is AI… I Mean, Really? – Tech Tuesday – Star 95.9 FM

Mitch Joel

Mitch Joel lives at the intersection of technology, business transformation and consumer culture. He is the Executive Director of Next Era Institute, a strategic intelligence platform helping leaders understand the forces reshaping business, technology, culture and society. The Institute identifies which shifts matter, explores their wider significance and translates them into strategic direction and momentum. Mitch is also a globally recognized keynote speaker. He has delivered thousands of presentations across both B2B and B2C industries to organizations including Google, Walmart, LEGO, Shopify, Microsoft, Procter & Gamble and Unilever. Strategy Magazine has called him “one of North America’s leading visionaries.” Mitch built his career by working directly inside the waves of change that reshaped modern business. He founded and built a digital marketing agency that worked with some of the world’s largest brands and was later acquired by WPP, where he served as President of a firm operating in 25 countries with almost 3,000 employees. Mitch is the bestselling author of Six Pixels of Separation and CTRL ALT Delete, and the host of Thinking With Mitch Joel, one of the longest-running business podcasts in the world. His writing and commentary appear in outlets including Harvard Business Review, Fast Company and Inc. Magazine. He is a member of Dr. Marshall Goldsmith’s 100 Coaches and was named to the Thinkers50 Radar. Mitch also hosts Groove – The No Treble Podcast, documenting the oral history of electric bass players. Mitch is also Co-Founder of ThinkersOne, a platform that enables companies to bring personalized thought leadership from world-class experts into meetings, events and off-sites in focused 15-minute bursts.