AI Was Meant to Be New… It Was Meant to Be Beautiful.

AI has been taking over the world. At least for me, it feels like every over-the-top acquaintance I had in high school or college is posting about their brand new blockchain-based AI start-up, and that every recruiter is talking about how they look for AI experience or certifications on resumes. My parents are showing me short-form content that is clearly AI-generated, and it is concerning that they can’t tell the difference. You think that you “utilize AI in your everyday project workflow,” but in reality, you are asking ChatGPT to rewrite Slack messages to your boss. Many are afraid of AI, or at least the unknown aspects of it. Is there something to be afraid of, like the doom and gloom found in Marvel’s Ultron? Or is it all just noise?

As a current Marketing Intern at Nativa, I have used AI extensively to assist with the planning of multicultural marketing campaigns. I use it more as a search tool, and it helps with finding marketing research sources. When I use AI, I use it similarly to how I use Google. I ask it to find sources for me and to sort through data. When I see the insane market valuations for AI companies or the new developments in medical cures that are assisted by AI, I get a lot of questions. I knew I needed to consult someone to get a better understanding of the world of AI. I went to David Loewy, Solution Analyst in AI & Data Engineering at Deloitte, for answers. He works on real projects that utilize AI and is at the forefront of AI development. After asking ChatGPT to refine my list of specific questions I could ask (ironic, isn’t it), I sent them his way. So, in the grand scheme of things, how is AI practically affecting our world – and our day-to-day lives?

An Interview With an AI Professional

How much of your “AI workflow” is just asking ChatGPT or another AI language model to rewrite emails with more exclamation points?

I am in a programmer role at my job, so for me, it’s a lot of troubleshooting code or software. On occasion, I use it for wording, but much less than other prompts.

Do you think we’re in a golden age of AI? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Not yet, AI is still in its infancy, and once algorithms improve and hardware gets even stronger (e.g., quantum computing) the differences will be unfathomable. Right now, we’re in the stage for AI like the internet was in the 70s/80s.

What AI developments do you foresee on the horizon?

In time, I think we’re going to see a lot of white collar roles being automated by AI. Copilot is already getting integrated into PowerPoint. Now, imagine this spread into Excel, accounting, finances, etc. AI-generated videos aren’t well received nowadays, but eventually, it could get so undetectable people may not even know. In addition, programming will one day (though still far out) be fully automated. Right now, it is, at least partially, and AI is used as a supplementary tool. People will be able to generate businesses with a prompt one day.

How would someone be able to distinguish actual, genuine meaningful AI innovation from hype and nonsense?

The technological barriers are still there, and government/societal rules or opinions will slow it down. It will also take time to translate theories into demos and demos into usable technology. At the end of the day, as long as it helps you in a task, it is meaningful and useful, but just because it looks cool won’t mean you’ll use it, especially for cheap.

What’s something AI is terrible at, at least from your experience?

AI will not be able to come up with something completely original. It relies on training data and so will always be created as a result of something else. It also can’t interact in the physical world yet (blue-collar work is safe), and will not be able to replace human-centered jobs (strategic management, counseling, etc.).

What advice would you give to someone who feels like they’re trying their best to use AI to just stay professionally relevant?

Learn what’s new. Apps are being made every day and being integrated into tools you already use. Don’t let it slip you by and adopt it before you get left behind. It’s easier to use than you think.

What concerns you about AI?

With AI can come negative uses like cybersecurity concerns, deepfakes, and the potential for misinformation, especially if it gets enough data to know the optimal way to achieve those three. Controls will be needed to moderate it, especially as AI images/videos get harder to distinguish from reality.

What excites you about AI?

There’s an insanely high capacity for good and for bad. As mentioned prior, technological and medical advancements have insane potential, and we have the opportunity to make life significantly easier for the entire world. A prompt into Google used to give you websites, now it gives you summaries, and as AI grows, it can even build things for you. We can be significantly more productive as a society and have an even greater positive impact in the world.

Any other comments regarding AI, or any final thoughts?

AI is the next internet-level invention, and it might even surpass it one day with its impact. There’s a huge amount of unknown – we will just have to wait and see.

My Final Thoughts

After interviewing David, I no longer feel as pessimistic about AI. I believe that many of my initial interpretations about the usefulness of AI today can be addressed due to its infancy, as David mentioned. When new inventions that threaten the common way of life come around, people are quick to be cautious and apprehensive – just read the story of Galileo Galilei. It is clear that the mainstream adaptation of AI has me feeling those ways. 

It seems that AI is working way harder from behind the scenes, especially in scientific communities. Of course, I would not be able to see the progress – I am not a scientist, nor am I a graduate-level researcher discovering new things about the world. From a consumeristic perspective, my pessimism might make sense. The AI products that most people use are stripped of the more advanced features and provide the bare essentials that everyday people would need. From a scientific perspective, a pessimistic view is likely naïve. And if the industry is on the verge of a breakthrough, like the early stages of the internet, my opinion will change further. The real advances in AI are still yet to come, and I’m excited to watch them develop.