I’ve had this experience a lot lately at work—someone comes up to me, they’re smiling, they’ve got news to share. “Have you seen what these things can do?” they ask. I don’t want to be a jerk, but in my heart and head, I’m like, “Why yes, actually, I have.” They’ve just discovered what generative AI can do. Their minds are blown.
Anyone who’s done anything more than chat with a chat bot has had this experience. I made a comic book prototype with it. I’ve used it to code. I’ve run simulated fantasy football games with it. One of my daughters has tried letting it make “cringy fan fiction,” as she calls it. It’s all pretty magical. Until it isn’t.
Anyone who tells you about generative AI with that twinkle in their eye, like they’ve discovered the old magic, just hasn’t used it long enough yet. I want to say, “Just wait. You’ll find its limits, and then you’ll come back down to earth with the rest of us.”
I’m really curious to see what happens when the rest of the world reaches this point.