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Generative AI boom "could come to a fairly swift end"
(www.dezeen.com)
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this post was submitted on 22 Aug 2023
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Technology
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You're 100% right, with easily accessible technology people don't retain the skills that are supplemented by that technology.
As a kid growing up with the advent of computers it was all jank, you had to know how to fix and diagnose both hardware and software issues, but you still learned to do it with limited resources and (in my case) even very limited English knowledge. I had, in fact, learned English mostly because of my interest in computers and games, and I learned programming also because of my interest in games...
I was thinking that "oh wow the new generation will have it so easy, they will grow up with reliable and easier to use PCs, they'll know even more than me and be so good with it!" and it's the exact opposite. Because it's so user-friendly and readily available they don't need to learn to fix anything, they can just buy it. They don't need any skills that are deeper than basic usage. And that's how you get kids today who don't even know how to turn on a PC, let alone use a word or table processor - because they have iPhones and iPads and never needed anything else, they never found it groundbreaking or useful.
So yeah, not only will they be less knowledgeable, they won't even bother thinking or checking the answers, because the AI will be right most of the time. I'm actually kinda worried that this will make people really easily manipulable.
Around where I live people, media and politicians have been talking about "diginative" generation for years. The generation that will have no problem adapting to ever digitizing worklife. But lately the reality has creeped in even in media, these young adults are having difficult time adapting to the software and hardware used by the corporate world. The devices and apps they grew up using are so dumbed down and strictly guided that they are lost with the amount of options and processes supported by the professional applications.
The ease-of-use of consumer apps is counterproductive on that regard. Being able to use them is as valuable to businesses as being able to put a square block through the square hole and triangle block through the triangle hole. It's essentially worthless as nearly every single human can do it, it's designed to be just so easy and streamlined.
But maybe business world is wrong and should adapt instead? Maybe they should also concentrate on making their processes as streamlined? Maybe generative AI could help with that? Who knows. In my opinion the problem isn't in the "physical" processes, those are often in the end just mundane tasks, but in the mental processes that the dumbed down apps kids grow up using do not feed. They often give you one way to go through a use case and that's it. No outside of the box thinking, no evaluation of options and requirements.
Isn't this the point of technology?
Kinda is, sure. The problem is when you become overly reliant on the tech without it being reliable. It's also kinda bad when it causes you to lose skills that you need to maintain it or further it.
“These darn books are going to make all the youths dumb and forget everything!”
Like we’ve literally been saying the same shit for over 2000 years. And your youths are never doomed…