How will Google AI and ChatGPT impact human curiosity?
Remember the days of whole conversations based on maybes, rumour and innuendo? They’re over.
Twenty years ago you’d get a dinner party’s worth of chat out of whether or not Marilyn Manson was the skinny kid in The Wonder Years.
Not today, though. Some smug-faced-someone will grab a smartphone faster than John Wayne draws a gun and fire off a round of penetrating fact bullets …
A hoax, folks. He wasn’t. Don’t sully our party with your half-truths, pleasey please.
We’ve so OD’d on curiosity that the cat is dead, cold and decomposing … right?
The cat is dead … long live the cat
Studies show Google AI can accurately answer over 90% of the questions users ask. Given there’s such power in our pockets, it will surely reduce our desire to seek.
If someone or something has (nearly) all the answers, then there’ll come a point when we run out of questions, right?
Maybe not. It’s telling that 15% of the questions we ask Google are unique. They haven’t yet been asked …
So maybe we’re not in curiosity’s end-zone. Maybe we’re about to entering level two.
Because a world where Google et al can instantly satisfy human’s bread-and-butter curiosity – questions like who’d win in a fight between a gorilla and a bear – is a world where we’re free to dig deeper.
In a sense it’s like mechanisation of thought. Just as we’ve handed more and more repetitive tasks and jobs over to automation, maybe AI can take care of mundane curiosity so humans have extra time and space to discover, create, evolve …
The curiosit-AI era
AI models like ChatGPT – an AI platform capable of conversational exchanges and even espousing creative ideas – could eventually enhance and embolden humans’ innate curiosity by facilitating more and better collaborative critical thinking.
By enabling people to work together, and in-step with artificial intelligence, the capacity to co-create and discover in real-time just multiplied.
The possibilities herein could transform the level at which we engage with information, and the speed at which new ideas and discoveries are brought to boil.
That’s the future. For now, ChatGPT and other AI models come with warning labels. It’s early days, they’re limited in what they can do, and much of the source information AI draws from is laced with language, cultural, conscious and unconscious biases.
And because this is AI, there’s also the big Terminator-2-unknowns of its future power. As such, a group of 1,000 tech leaders including Elon Musk recently called for ChatGPT’s development to be paused so the tech can be scrutinised and safety rails put in.
So we approach with caution. AI may be a gamechanger, but it ain’t yet bulletproof.
Your money? Stay crit-AI-cal
In future, AI may evolve to where it can rightly, appropriately and accurately tailor money education to you, and make watertight recommendations on the best-next-actions for you in all money matters.
Maybe. But that’s then and this is now. For the average person seeking answers on topics they don’t quite understand, like money, AI can help … but it pays to keep a critical mindset to ensure insights are accurate and relevant to support your learning and decision-making. Here’s some guiderails:
Cross-verify:
Don’t rely solely on one AI-generated source. Use multiple sources to cross-verify information, including reputable and reliable financial institutions, government websites and experts.
Evaluate credibility:
Check the sources AI uses. Assess their credibility. Is this AI-generated info built on the work of reputable thinkers who use evidence? Has source material been peer-reviewed or scrutinised?
Consider context:
AI models may give answers based on very generic patterns, or very specific patterns. The data itself may stand up, but it could be irrelevant for you and your circumstances. Consider context. Insights from a study representing young men likely won’t work for midlife women, for example.
Exercise critical thinking:
Don’t blindly accept AI-generated information. Evaluate it logically by questioning assumptions, fact-checking, and identifying potential biases. On that …
Seek diverse perspectives:
AI models may fail to represent nuanced thinking or diversity-of-perspective. Source material written by a rich 50-year-old will contain pre-baked assumptions and biases. So engage in discussion, check diverse sources and consider different angles for a more rounded understanding.
Learn continuously:
Use AI-generated info as a starting point for further learning. Deepen your knowledge and stay up-to-date with the subject and its evolution. By continuously educating yourself you’ll build a solid foundation of knowledge and confidence on which you’ll make better decisions.