Adam-Richter.com

What is the cost of what we are doing with AI?

I’m not only thinking of the financial and environmental costs of artificial intelligence. Those are significant and should be considered with every discussion.

(I recently commented about the environmental impact on a friend’s Facebook post that was an AI photo of him and his hobbies; it remains to be seen whether we are still friends as of this writing.)

I also worry about the cost to our own cognitive abilities. When we outsource the complex thought processes that go into analytical or creative endeavors, what happens to our own ability to do that? Socrates worried that the written word would harm our ability to remember. The calculator made it unnecessary to do quick math in our heads.

Hell, the internet made it unnecessary to leave the house to do research.

A Pew Research study from October found that a majority of Americans think AI will worsen our ability to think creatively; 40 percent said it will harm our ability to make difficult decisions.

AI has its uses, even in journalism. But it comes with costs. Those need to be weighed in every decision around the technology.

As a journalist, that’s especially true in our field, which has been burned time and again by emerging technologies.