AI: A Tool, Not a Philosophy Experiment

Power tools were invented five years ago.

I’ve been using them every day to build houses for the last two years.

The houses are built fast and I enjoy the pleasant whirring sound.

Then people hop on Twitter and say, “Yeah, but what do power tools mean for us as humans, man?”

I respond: We can build houses faster. And that’s it really.

Let the reader understand.

Two Contrarian Takes

This perspective comes from two simple, contrarian conclusions:

1. AI is not the end of the world.
2. You should use it.

What Will You Say?

At the end of the day, this reminds me of the parable of the talents. Imagine standing before God and saying:

“Well, Lord, I wrapped my talent in a napkin. I made sure to study its societal implications. I was careful not to use it too fast. And look—here it is, untouched.”

Meanwhile, others took the tools available to them and built something.

So, what’s it going to be? Are you going to sit around debating, or are you going to get to work?

The Conversations We’re Not Having

The worst part of repeating useless conversations is the useful conversations we’re not having.

Consider this hot piece of advice on Twitter:

https://x.com/aakashg0/status/1890492955842007087

What is actually being said here? That you have to tell AI what you want?

This is low substance advice, formatted with a nice diagram. It could be helpful, but it’s shallow. Is he saying that the order matters? If so, why?

All this advice is just, “Try asking for what you want.”

By this time we ought to be teachers, but we are not learning how to use these tools well.