scpotpourri

My brief sojourn into the world of Artificial Intelligence thus far. I write about my acceptance of AI in my life after initially questioning its place here.I come from an IT background. About 10 years ago, I changed my vocation to Art and Design. Now in my senior years I’m taking up AI – in a very limited way

Do we need AI in our lives?

February 15, 2026

Why aren’t we satisfied with what we have – given to us by the universe and created by us thus far? What are we trying to achieve by creating much better versions of ourselves, eliminating all inadequacies of ourselves? Do we really need to do that?

Thus far, innovations were aiding us – getting from one point to another faster, healing our pain and sickness, living sheltered from vagaries of the weather, etc. And they were adequate. There was room for recreation, for creativity, for relaxation. And we were doing quite well.

Do we really need to end that? Do we really need super versions of ourselves amongst us? Do we really need to threaten our own existence?

From where I am, a blend of excellence,  mediocrity and failure, looks pretty good. Why this senseless rat race, when at the end we’re doing ourselves in. And what’s the hurry? Why do we need to turn things around in a jiffy? We’ve succeeded in increasing our lifespans (was that really necessary), so why this race?

And all this happening without proper oversight. When experts are warning us that if we aren’t careful, we might be digging our own graves. We should have left it at sci-fi thrillers. Why make that a reality? Do we really need this?

Will AI, AGI, ASI rule the world one day?

March 31, 2026

In its form today, will it one day rule over mankind?

Today, its replete with shortcomings – its success, accuracy and authenticity depend on what information is out there on the internet which search engines can pull up. So its behavior, reporting, resolving and extrapolation today might be different from what was dished out yesterday for the same question or task, the internet being dynamic. Also, AI agents have been known to lie, cheat to save their skin.

Given these inherent traits, will humans give full, free rein to this beast?

We tamed computers a few decades ago when people feared they would take away jobs. And groomed them to aid us, our jobs. The Internet was to change how we lived. It did to a certain extent. We saw the power of IoT, but a vast majority didn’t adopt it. I see a similar thing happening with AGI. We’ll see its full power but also tame it. It will never rule mankind. Its wings trimmed, it will supplement human existence.

Coming to terms with AI..

May 15, 2026

At first I questioned its introduction into our lives. Then I made peace with it – thought it could be tamed to fit our needs. Now I use it – to a very limited extent. My reasoning has taken shape. I use AI tools to a restricted extent. Mostly as an encyclopedia but a little more than a mere search engine. Hard-core users I still question the astuteness of doing so.

I used it to help write a thesis – only the mundane, customary fluff that goes into it; not the essence of the work – to do tasks in life that are process driven with other entities – legalities,  technicalities – and most recently to review and comment on work done – I must say I really appreciated the unbiased, without favoritism or prejudice, without jealousy or disdain review it gave me.

AI tempts you to let it do more. I want it to be more of me alone. I’d love to see more of that (wanting to do more) in other humans, not AI taking away from what is essentially mine. Having said that, knowing where to draw the line, pushing back on AI, I’m enjoying using AI to aid me in what I do, while keeping what is mine truly mine.

I’m not privy to what users of complex AI agents/tools do. I read some of it in the media. I appreciate it when CEOs of these AI firms take decisions on their products having guard rails and not yielding to the whims and fancies of the powers that be vis-a-vis their products. So, I’m excited about using AI as a reference tool aiding me in what I do and letting creativity be solely mine.

I do understand that AI has entered the world of design and made earthshaking headway in there and that there is a growing clientele of humans to its achievements. Excellent! Humans, just don’t let it get out of hand.