I was struck this morning when I saw an online clip of Ed Markey (D-MA) speaking about his use, or lack thereof, of AI in his everyday life, equating his AI routine to “whatever is in (his) phone”. Senator Markey, while not from my state of residence, is a guy I’ve generally liked when he’s popped up in my information orbit. But this morning, as much as he may deserve reelection, he instantly became, for me, a posterchild (or, ahem, geriatric) for our political leadership’s - and hell, leadership in general - utter lack of understanding of AI, and new technology broadly.
I am not a technologist. I have friends that can absolutely claim that mantle. But as someone who uses software in my everyday life both for income and merely existing, there certainly is not a week that goes by where the giant pink elephant “AI” doesn’t come up in conversation.
While AI is both the most thrilling and, perhaps, most existentially frightening element of the post-dot-com generation (competitive with climate change) , at the very least, it needs to be - at the most basic level - understood by our leaders. To not is an insult to every one of us. To chuckle at one’s ignorance, as the Senator and others have who have some control of these things, is more than insulting. It is threatening.
The only way AI is harnessed most exclusively for its most exciting characteristics is for government and private leaders to force it so through legislation and self-handcuffing. To do that, it will take not only willpower (of the guttural and political kinds alike), but probably losing some potential profits that could be acquired by a usage tract that exploits its most nefarious potential. The problem is, lack of willpower and squeezing profit, let’s just say, are often synonymous with leadership - and that gets to my point. It shouldn’t be. And no, you shouldn’t need to be a literal rapist to be a potential rising star. But you do need to fucking get it.
My friends and clients are mostly not of the political or upper leadership variety. And those that are are generally well-intentioned, as far as I can tell. And these days, more friends are losing their income than gaining. AI is not the only culprit. And Senator Markey is only one of a remarkable number of leaders to either misunderstand, or at the very least, misjudge how things like technology, media consolidation, corporate integrity, among other things, are rapidly changing and affecting the very existence of most of us. While “affordability” and “gas prices” and “Greenland” take the headlines, people are losing not just their job, but their careers, their livelihoods. All that they know of themselves.
A career shouldn’t be your identity. But, let’s be real. We spend most of our lives sleeping, shitting, or working. Order notwithstanding. I desperately try to make my hobbies, family, and values the crux of my identity, but I routinely feel I’m failing in that regard - and that is the precarious balance most of us juggle with the zero bandwidth we have to, I don’t know, eat at a pace our taste buds can keep up with. What happens when you pull both income and identity out from our under the rug of living?
These technologies can make us remarkably efficient in our work and day-to-day lives. But they, likewise, can dehumanize our work - then take our work - and leave us, well, feeling less human. My friends and clients see and feel it. I do too. And while I cannot provide anyone a living wage, or support a nationalized version therein, I do support free markets - and government guardrails - to allow us to hold onto a basic sense of humanity. A humanity that can only exist, for many of us, if our careers aren’t sucked from existence. Not everyone can just pull themselves up by their bootstraps.
What can us everypeople do? We can make ourselves more “employable” and diversify our experience, yes. We can watch YouTube and learn how to replace our toilet so we don’t have to call the plumber, yes. We can panic. Yes, we do that.
But for a moment, we can also put our phones down. Sit with one another in silence. Watch our kids bury each other in the sand. Have a drink, or a gummy, or read a book, or take a nap. We don’t have to do it all, all at once. We need to lock what makes us, us, in an impenetrable safe. Into a place AI can’t touch. Then, we can go back on LinkedIn and doom scroll career “experts”.
And all the while, we can ask our leaders - political, corporate, or otherwise - to also make themselves more employable. To diversify their experience. To watch YouTube and learn about AI. And sometimes, yes, they should panic. That can be good.
But we also need their sense of humanity too. And just like our friends and neighbors, they may need our help. So find yours. Then pay it forward.