"AI is everywhere!". What to do?

The development of society can be viewed through different methodologies. I will share my perspective on how society evolves, touching on artificial intelligence and its adaptation as one of many revolutionary technologies. Here is my simplified vision to make it more interesting for you to read and easier for me to write.

I won’t explain what artificial intelligence (or “штучка інтелект” as I often call it) is, because most people already have an idea. I’ll just state what’s obvious and important for this article: it is a tool, a technology, a means for achieving human goals. Undoubtedly, it’s a powerful and intelligent thing, fairly independent in making decisions in many tasks, but for now, it is not fully autonomous. Artificial intelligence still needs a human. And not necessarily an “expert,” but a person who provides meaning.

Humanity will always face contemporary problems. For this, society as a single organism constantly creates new tools to solve or simplify these issues. Fire, language, writing, the wheel, architecture, agriculture, physics, medicine, electricity, computer and quantum technologies - ultimately, artificial intelligence. All these technologies were invented by people for people. Maybe one person proposed a particular interpretation, but iterative adaptation always happens across the whole society.

Each new technology (with some exceptions) increases society’s overall efficiency. For example, the “industrial revolution” reduced the cost of many goods, improved factory efficiency, and reduced the need for hard physical labor.

Another example: the “computer revolution” enabled the storage of vast amounts of knowledge and data, as well as their analysis and processing. The computer revolution gave many people access to a wider array of services and increased competition, resulting in higher-quality services. In nearly every case, “revolutionary technologies” have led to increased societal efficiency in the long run, but also to the redistribution of needs and knowledge.

The artificial intelligence revolution enables even better analysis of large amounts of data and finding understandable (an important word here) meaning or meaninglessness in various types of data. Why “understandable”? Because understanding comes from humans. Humans operate the tool and look for its application. In any case, the tool’s function is “to be used by humans,” even if it works in “agentic” or “fully autonomous” mode. For now, only humans give meaning to the existence of artificial intelligence. Even if some may not realize the ultimate goals and just “use AI because it’s there,” there is still an end goal, and the tool exists as long as it most simply (and most effectively in alignment with society’s values) helps achieve that goal.

I’m not claiming that everything is always positive (though we should believe in the best). Any revolution, aside from increasing efficiency, brings short-term negatives: job redistribution, changes in habits, new physical, psychological, and mental diseases. These problems become the contemporary issues that will be solved by other, yet-unknown tools and revolutions.

“So, Pavlo, what should we do about artificial intelligence that’s everywhere?” you may remind me. And I’ll say: “Live and adapt.” Right now, dear reader, you’re in the adaptation phase. Your life, my life, anyone’s life is a constant adaptation, regardless of the revolution. Enjoy, suffer, gain experience, rest - you’ve adapted.

If I answer practically - it’s time to step out of your comfort zone (“why create it if you have to leave it?”, right?) and develop what is usually “not your business”: project, task, and people management, as well as researching meaning and value.

For technical people, technical expertise is no longer a sufficient condition for value - it has become a basic level everyone has. For creative people, your creativity alone no longer protects you from competition with AI; what protects you is your understanding of why you are creating something, for whom, and with what effect. What will differentiate you from a model is the ability to understand the business context, sense priorities, and see the meaning behind each task. In the new environment, the survivor will not be the one who knows the most syntax or colors, but the one who can take several tools - AI, data, processes, people - and assemble them into a single working system that makes sense. It has always been this way, but now it will be incredibly pronounced.