Why I Launched AI for Families
#WELCOME | A lot of *big thinkers* have been ruminating over AI in dramatic, sweeping manifestos. What about the rest of us? Especially our kids who need our help to navigate & embrace this new world.
Over the past 18+ months, there has been no shortage of academics, intellects, politicians and public figures weighing in with great seriousness and heated sentiment about the future of artificial intelligence.
Opinions have ranged from the dire and dystopian, to optimistic and wildly imaginative, while the rest of us have mostly back-burnered these big existential questions to focus instead on the more immediate needs of our day-to-day lives.
You’d also be forgiven for wondering if your humble opinion even matters? Even if you work(ed) in Silicon Valley, you may secretly feel that such rarified thinking can only credibly come from the rocket-ship makers and mathematical billionaire business creators.
And it’s a convenient narrative. The mystery justifies the money, right?
But the truth is that artificial intelligence does not exist without copious rich, diverse, meaningful data that comes, in large part, from human beings. From you and from me.
And this is my personal mission in advocating for families and AI, because we all have a family, either literally or figuratively, and together we need to get a handle on AI innovation…for better and for worse. Together.
It Has Always Been About Us
“This story has been yours all along. You just didn’t know it.”
— Lylla, 'Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3' (2023)
Just as wood or stone is needed to build a house, data from the day-to-day lives and very existence of all of us is required to build artificial intelligence.
We are, in fact, the non-negotiable, critical ingredient. And not just the rich or well-educated of us who live in cosmopolitan places and on the coasts of our country, but every human being who lives anywhere on the digital grid, from every walk of life, has something ostensibly to contribute here.
Think of it as the *Hungry Hungry Hippo Manifesto*
You know the “Hungry Hungry Hippo” game, right? (indeed there is actually two “hungry” in the title) You frantically try to feed your hippo to win and beat the other hippos. Well, AI is the hippo and it’s insatiable. And it’s an apt metaphor for the place we are and what is most important to everyone moving forward.
We are not just consumers of future applications but powerful stakeholder in its very creation. It’s a symbiotic relationship and the time has come to talk about it.
“Heroes are ordinary people who make themselves extraordinary.”
— Gerard Way
The Path Ahead
The principles of this treatise are simple, but important and hopefully something you’ll sit with for a while and then share widely:
1. We are the “natural resource” required to build AI innovation.
Again, your very existence and digital footprint is the “natural resource” that feeds this new innovation. This simple truth is as inconvenient as it obvious; and a reason to be as wildly optimistic and as deeply unnerved. But without you and me, there is no artificial intelligence. So it’s the line in the sand and a starting point for any future conversation on the topic.
2. You must reconsider your part and your power.
You have the power and are now a stakeholder in this large future experiment. You decide what to share, what not to share, and if unsure, you decide to ask and speak up. It’s that simple. No matter who you are, where you live, what you do, you can join your family, friends, neighbors and colleagues in asking who, what, where, when, why and how in relation to your data. It won’t be easy and there are no simple answers, but take a moment and feel the power you hold.
3. Nothing has been, or will continue to be, free.
Now we need to have an honest discussion with ourselves about the exchange. Your social media is not “free.” Nor is your email, nor any other tool or platform you’ve built your life around (and yet do not use a credit card to access). Take stock and recognize what you are “buying” with your data and personal information. It’s okay, some things are worth it. But know how you “pay” and the economics at play.
4. Stay savvy and aware as the sharks begin to circle.
When you understand the power of your information you will realize that — as with anything of great value — there will be a fight to get a hold of it. Some will try to coerce you out of valuable information. Hackers and criminals will work harder and harder to take it. You must be on the defensive and protect yourself.
5. You are the boss of you.
Finally, we need to stop acting like there is some sort of digital dictator lording over us all. You do not need to provide an exact birthdate to your favorite retailer or local pizza shop. And really, unless we are talking about a bank, government entity or your doctor, it’s okay to decline full stop or pop in an “incorrect” name, date, address or whatever. You are the boss of your information. You decide.
“We can be heroes, just for one day”
— David Bowie
6. Our superpower is the ability to ask great questions.
This is the final point and the most important because critical inquiry will not only help protect your data and negotiate its use, it will help hold accountable those who may seek to sway or influence you.
It’s also what will make AI ultimately beneficial to your day-to-day life. Right now chatbots, such as ChatGPT, are only as useful as your ability to ask the right questions. And then ask again and again.
The point is, you are no longer a statistic or unimportant, you do not have to leave the future to those with enough power and money to buy islands, yachts or rocket ships. You hold something the creators and magic makers want… they want you.
“Trust yourself, trust your power – that’s how you stop it.”
— Doctor Stephen Strange, 'Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness' (2022)