Book Brew 153: Your Phone Is Basically AI, But Sure, Let’s Hate ChatGPT

Some people say they don’t like AI because it “does the thing” for them. Cool. So does your washing machine. 

In most of these cases, “the thing” they are referring to is writing.

“We can be blind to the obvious, and we are also blind to our blindness.” - Daniel Kahneman

Yet, these same people are okay with:

• buying clothes that are machine-made  
• eating food that is machine-made  
• driving cars made by robots
• using computers (machines, btw) to do their work
• heavily using cellphones (like, is there anything in there that isn’t machine??)
• going to 5D movies (yeah, they are a thing and I just learned of them today)

Why This Double Standard?

“The truth is that we all like to think of ourselves as rational, but we are all creatures of emotion, continually misinterpreting the world.” - Robert Greene

Why are these things “acceptable” but not something like a ChatGPT?

I bring this up not from a place of debate, but to point out the interesting ways we each see the world and how there are often biases attached to those viewpoints.  

Try On the Thinking Hats

“When we insist that our vision be accepted, completely, without alteration, we’ve already compromised….Mostly though, we’ve compromised on who can contribute to our choices and make it better.” - Seth Godin

So before going off on a rant about something (clearly not what I’m doing here), why not take the time to stop and look at it from multiple perspectives? A process like the 6 Thinking Hats is a great way to do that.  

• White Hat: What’s the data?
• Red Hat: What’s the gut reaction?
• Black Hat: What could go wrong?
• Yellow Hat: What’s the upside?
• Green Hat: What’s the creative angle?
• Blue Hat: What’s the big picture?

(obviously, there is way more to Edward de Bono’s framework than this, but thought I would give you the SETR (short enough to read) version so that you may actually consider using it).

“Everything we hear is an opinion, not a fact. Everything we see is a perspective, not the truth.” - Marcus Aurelius

Ponder This

1. Where do you draw the line on what machines can do for you?
2. Is your skepticism about AI really about AI or about control?
3. What would happen if you applied the 6 Thinking Hats before dismissing something?

Books/Newsletters

• Seth’s Blog - Seth Godin
• Thinking Fast and Slow - Daniel Kahneman
• The Laws of Human Nature - Robert Greene
• Meditations - Marcus Aurelius