The Work Won’t Do Itself, And That How It Should Be.

With all the excitement around ChatGPT and artificial intelligence recently, I fear for the future of humanity. It’s not a fear of technology, but it comes from my suspicion that many people are searching for technology to do their work for them.

But let’s stop for a moment and think about that. If an app or device could do the work for you, how long do you think it would be before that technology replaces you?

I read with interest that students could use ChatGPT to write their essays for them, which is great for ChatGPT, but disastrous for students. The idea behind having students write essays is to learn (and demonstrate) they can put together a coherent argument, acknowledging both sides of it and coming to their own conclusion. Suppose we lose that ability to put together a logical argument that considers both sides. In that case, we will never be able to move on from polarised politics, where each side refuses to listen to the other and where we are defined by whom we hate.

I want to avoid sounding like a Luddite — I love technology and how technology has transformed our lives. But with new technology comes dangers we may not be aware of.

As AI and ChatGPT develop, writing blog posts like this will be simple in a few years. I type a topic and let AI write it for me. What’s the point of that? Readers won’t get my perspective; they will get a generic view that AI computers decide will get the most reads. It won’t educate, it won’t enhance lives, and it will put an end to human development.

There is a pleasure in developing ideas and writing about them. It’s how we have moved humanity forward and how the human life form has become so dominant.

The most significant danger, though, is to assume technology will solve our problems without us lifting a finger. Often that may well be the case, but if we are not at the forefront of creating solutions ourselves, we will soon find ourselves redundant.

Technology that reduces pollution, such as harnessing power from the sun, wind, and hydrogen, moves us forward. Computer programs that answer emails, write reports and create presentations for us do not.

One thing I have learned about humans is we all have different perspectives on a given event or situation. That makes us unique and special in the animal kingdom — some people see President Trump as a hateful, lying clown. Others see him as a reforming, forward-thinking leader. Whatever side you fall on, you do so because you are human, free to make your own mind up and hold your own opinion.

And that brings me to our work. You do not want technology to be able to do your work for you. If that ever happened, you would no longer have the means to support yourself and your family. Instead, you want to be harnessing technology so that you can do your work more effectively.

To accomplish that, we need to learn how to use the technology we use effectively. For example, I have used Todoist as my task manager for over eight years. It’s an application that I use every day on all my devices. There is very little I don’t know about using Todoist. Collecting and managing tasks is automatic; I don’t need to think about it. If I were to change my task manager to something like Things 3, I would throw away eight years of focused experience and learning.

Todoist doesn’t do the work for me; Todoist reminds me of what I have on my plate and what needs to be done. I always get to decide what I do. The truth is, any task manager will do that. All you need to do is determine what task manager you like and commit yourself to learn how to use it to the best of your abilities.

With the tasks I collect in my inbox, I want to decide whether something I collect goes into my system. I do not want AI or machine learning to make that decision for me. I certainly do not want a computer to decide when I should do something. A computer or machine will never know whether I have a cold, feel emotionally or physically drained or need an easy day.

It’s your experience doing the work you do that gives you an edge. The more experience you get doing hard things, solving seemingly impossible problems and pushing your limits, the more valuable you become. It also means your work becomes easier, not because it is easier, but because you get better at doing it. And it’s that improvement — that growth in your skills — that will bring joy and a sense of fulfilment to your work.

Be thankful that technology cannot do your work for you. Instead, be proud of your skills, know-how, and ability to communicate with your fellow human beings. And always remember that the road to a fulfilled, well-lived life is in developing your skills and learning to improve at what you do.

Thank you for reading my stories! 😊

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