How do we develop a healthy Fast Intelligence diet?
Midjourney prompt: AI diet being healthy
How damaging will it be if we begin to consume intelligence similarly to how we consume food or fashion? The recent Writers Guild of America (WGA) and Screen Actors Guild (SGA) strike provides a potential illustration.
A vital element of the strike was concern about AI replacing writers and potentially collapsing the industry. Fast Intelligence proved a sticking point for both sides, writers, and studios, with concerns about the pace of change and GenAI being used to improve or create scripts. The agreement limits how studios can use AI and ensures that writers can use AI to improve a script, but AI cannot be used without a writer's involvement.
The SAG-AFTRA strike continues, with actors concerned that AI would recreate their faces and voices. A primary concern was that studios presented actors working as extras with contracts that provided a single day's pay but allowed studios to use their likenesses throughout a production without further compensation.
Screenwriters and actors should not be the only people concerned about how Fast Intelligence will change their sector, work, and livelihoods. Multiple sectors involve work that is repetitive and repeatable. Fast Intelligence models could effectively capture the activity and repeat it, with employees paid once at the start but then no longer. A common myth is that Fast Intelligence activity will free up more time for workers to do other, more complex tasks. Yet, as the WGA/SAG-AFTRA issues show, sometimes that freed time could become unpaid.
How do we create a healthy diet for fast intelligence, and consume its products appropriately? A good outcome could be that Fast Intelligence is implemented to improve our work and lives rather than harm or diminish our livelihoods.
There are some tactical steps that we can all take. By being cautious, verifying information from other sources, understanding how the tools work, and developing critical thinking skills, we can ensure that our use of fast Intelligence starts with healthy intent. These are equivalent to reading the label for nutritional information. Yet, we see from other fast addictions that individuals need a more strategic approach.
AWARENESS - How does it work?
First, we need to become more aware of Fast Intelligence. Awareness covers understanding about how it works, how it creates errors, understanding about the good things that it can achieve and comprehension of the risks. We need more than this awareness. Those who understand it the most have a tremendous responsibility to explain it to others. Awareness should become a group activity.
CONSIDERATION - How will it affect me?
Secondly, consider how Fast Intelligence could impact our work and lives. A simple approach is to take a moment in our days and think about how many of our activities are repetitive or repeatable. We could do the same things several times at once or the same thing every day. This consideration gives us an insight as to how much of our work or lives could be automated.
Then, we need to consider whether we want to automate those tasks. In doing so, does Fast Intelligence reduce the value we obtain from the activity, or does it improve the outcome? We may find that getting our daily cup of coffee ready in advance is a welcome boon. We may also find that certain activities are essential to our job or the satisfaction we derive from our work.
This consideration must include all people involved in the activity again as a collective activity. One individual should not decide which roles are automated or replaced alone. Often, it is the person who conducts the work who best understands how that work can be improved, or different people have different perspectives on how valuable the activity is to complete.
ENGAGEMENT - How can we improve our lives with AI?
Finally, we must engage that collective group to agree on the best way to proceed. Where we save time, engagement on how to utilise or reward that saving is essential. For instance, when a process becomes faster, cheaper, or simpler, all those involved should decide how best to employ that improvement. The lesson of Fast Food and Fashion is that often, economic savings are prioritised too high compared to other costs.
These three strategic concepts are also very human at their heart. They are activities that need human oversight and are hard for Fast Intelligence to conduct on our behalf.
Awareness, Consideration, Engagement. This simple strategy will help us all prepare for a diet based on Fast Intelligence, healthily and responsibly. Ultimately, the ethical and responsible use of fast Intelligence will be critical to realising its full potential and ensuring that it benefits all humanity. This outcome, however, is only possible if humans learn from our other fast addictions and act before our laziness makes it too late.
