My AI Wake-Up Call
Look, I’ll admit it. I was a skeptic. AI this, AI that. It was all gonna pass, right? Then, last Tuesday, I was at this conference in Austin. You know, the one with the weird name. And this guy, let’s call him Marcus, he shows me this demo. It’s an AI that writes code. Not just any code. Good code. Clean code. And I’m sitting there, jaw on the floor, thinking, “Oh crap. This is real.”
Marcus, he’s this kinda smug tech bro, you know the type. But he’s also right. “AI’s not gonna replace you,” he says. “But someone using AI might.” Which… yeah. Fair enough.
But What About the Jobs?
Okay, so I get it. AI’s gonna change things. But jobs? I mean, we’ve heard this before. The robots are coming! The robots are here! And yet, here we are. Still working. Still complaining about our jobs. Still drinking too much coffee.
But this feels different. I talked to a colleague named Dave about this. Over coffee at the place on 5th. You know the one. Tiny, always crowded, great pastries. Anyway, Dave, he’s a data guy. Crunches numbers for a living. And he’s telling me, “The numbers don’t lie. AI’s gonna disrrupt alot of industries. But it’s also gonna create new ones.”
I’m not sure I buy it. I mean, what about all the people who’s jobs are gonna be automatted? (Yeah, I know, not a word. But it should be.) What about the truck drivers? The cashiers? The, hell, the writers? (Though honestly, maybe the world could use fewer writers.)
AI and the Civic Community
But here’s the thing. AI’s not all doom and gloom. It’s also gonna help us. Like, a lot. Take, for example, the local news coverage update system. It’s using AI to keep us informed about what’s happening in our community. Traffic, weather, local events. It’s all there. And it’s all powered by AI.
And it’s not just news. AI’s gonna help us with our health. Our education. Our, I don’t know, our committment to fitness. (See? Even I’m not perfect.) It’s gonna help us live better lives. More informed. More connected. More… efficient.
A Tangent: The AI Art Debate
Now, let me digress for a second. You ever seen AI-generated art? It’s wild. Like, “is this real?” wild. I showed some to my friend, Lisa, last week. She’s an artist. A real one. Paints, draws, all that. And she’s looking at this AI art, and she’s like, “This is amazing. And it’s also kinda scary.”
And I get that. It’s scary because it’s good. Really good. And it’s made by a machine. A machine that can paint a masterpiece in seconds. What does that mean for artists? For art? For, hell, for the soul of humanity?
I don’t know. But it’s something to think about. Maybe over a drink. Or three.
Back to Reality
Anyway, back to the point. AI’s here. It’s real. And it’s gonna change our lives. For better or worse. And as much as I hate to admit it, Marcus was right. Someone using AI might replace me. But maybe, just maybe, that someone could be me.
So, I’m all in. AI, baby. Let’s do this thing.
About the Author
Sarah “Sal” Salinger has been a tech journalist for 22 years. She’s written for Wired, The Verge, and a bunch of other places you’ve probably heard of. She lives in Austin with her cat, Mr. Whiskers, and her collection of vintage typewriters. She’s a sucker for a good story and a bad pun.
