AInxiety
June 2023
It just occurred to me: I might be the best person in the world for you to talk to if you’re feeling nervous about what the media is calling AI.
Here’s why.
I do in fact know stuff about computers
It’s not my day-to-day specialty, but for what it’s worth I have an advanced degree in Computer Science. I’m familiar with, but not expert in, the technology behind ChatGPT, Bard, Stable Diffusion, whatever.
That’s actually ideal, because the people working in this space have an incentive to hype it up*. Speaking of hype …
I work in marketing
… and everything you’ve heard about AI is marketing. That doesn’t mean it’s not true! But truth is secondary to the effectiveness of a marketing campaign.
After spending the last several years in the tech space, I can help put the current mania into perspective. And I can do so without making you feel like an idiot, because …
I used to teach kindergarten
At one point I taught a room full of 6-year-olds to count in binary. (It’s fun.)
I mention that to demonstrate that this stuff is learnable, and that I am patient, and good at explaining things.
So if the headlines, the hearings, or the feed of your favorite social media influencer has got you feeling anxious about AI, let’s chat!
*Not all of them give in to this temptation! I can point you to several domain experts with very grounded perspectives on the topic.