Ask ChatGPT. I hear that a lot. I say that too. Forgetting that it’s a generative AI tool, it feels like ChatGPT is a person waiting to answer all my questions.
As Jana Retowsky et al. note in the exploratory study on ChatGPT, “…We were struck by the emotions our participants described about ChatGPT. Specifically, we identified two pivotal emotions before signing up: curiosity and fear. Curiosity was associated with the surprise that something impactful had been launched they had not seen coming.”
“Other participants described feelings of existential threat regarding the sudden introduction of ChatGPT. This existential threat was linked to being afraid that the technology could replace their work and services.”
Here’s what I know after a year of being exposed to generative-AI. What at risk with frequent use of ChatGPT, Gemini or any other generative-AI tool is inherently our ability to think.
Photo by Emiliano Vittoriosi on Unsplash
My mother’s biggest complaint when I was a child was that I asked a lot of questions. I wasn’t alone. Children are naturally curious. There’s so much they don’t know.
It’s the sense of satisfaction that comes from not just knowing but understanding something. We’re all waiting for our “eureka” moments.
There’s a you, that doesn’t know and a you, that can explain it to someone else. An interesting thing happens when you actively search for something. You bring strong connections in between concepts. A stronger neural network that allows your brain to think more.
But it’s all going away.
We’re trying to simplify our lives. It makes sense.
Comfort is desirable. Comfort is good.
But what happens when we remove the space and need for curiosity? When our focus is only on getting to the answer as quickly as possible?
What happens when we all keeping arriving at the same conclusion?
We end up with a world that believes in a similar ideas but has no basis for it.
This is how it is, but I cannot explain why.
I can already feel the effects. I find it harder to comprehend long paragraphs of text. My eyes skim over automatically or I have the urge to ask AI to give me the main bullet points.
I try not to.
In the past, we divided our time mainly between two activities: time with others and time for ourselves. Today, we spend more time alone, and there is also a third state: time spent with digital technology. It is likely that through AI, this third state’s share is increasing.
Don’t use it then.
Agreed, in a world that’s black and white — that would be the correct answer.
After all, we have a choice.
But, I feel there is a gap. Yes using AI feels like a trick, a bug in the matrix, a cheat code — but if I don’t, how will I beat my competitors? How am I supposed to keep up? How do I meet the demands of social media and modern life if I don’t have help and others do?
I’m not sure if I have the answer to that.
I value my creativity and I think ChatGPT’s interface feels like a sad closed box.
So, I’m going to stick to the internet as much as I can. I’m going to take a minute or five more to read the articles and blogs. I’m going to save it to my Notion board and have my little “Aha” moments when the articles and information I save can be used for future work.
The process of getting to the right answer is still fun to me. After all, if I keep following my curiosity, naturally I’ll be more creative.
What have you decided?
Read more
Retkowsky, Jana; Hafermalz, Ella; and Huysman, Marleen, “From playmate to assistant; User experiences of integrating ChatGPT into knowledge work” (2023). Rising like a Phoenix: Emerging from the Pandemic and Reshaping Human Endeavors with Digital Technologies ICIS 2023. 16. https://aisel.aisnet.org/icis2023/techandfow/techandfow/16
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