Bicycles for the Mind

A Deeper Look at the Generative AI Moment

“The sooner you can accept and embrace the mindset that the world is always changing, and the skills you have to learn always need to change, the better off you'll be.”
— Karen X. Cheng, Digital Artist

ChatGPT. To many, it may as well be a four-letter word (like the holy "f*ck" feeling when you first use it). This new generative AI is seen as a job killer, a cost-cutter, a learning shortcut, and a stand-in for human creativity. Its true potential is none of the above. Hot takes on its application are like speculating on the Wright Brothers’ first flight. This thing is barely off the ground.

Staying with the metaphor, programs like OpenAI-developed ChatGPT are a mode of transport — for knowledge, creative expression, and perhaps even love. In 1990, Steve Jobs used another image, "bicycle for the mind," to describe the power of personal computing. He envisioned that personal computers would unleash a level of creativity humanity had previously never known.

Computing’s potential and limits have been in question since its inception. As far back as the 19th century, leading figures questioned what computers could and couldn't do. Ada Lovelace, a math prodigy and the first programmer, said computers have no use without human inclusion. She wrote, "The 'Analytical Engine' has no pretensions to originate anything. It can do whatever we know how to order it to perform."

Like Lovelace, other A.I. pioneers in the 20th century, including J.C.R Licklider, Douglas Engelbart, and Alan Kay, saw the potential to augment our intellect and amplify our imagination. Computers need humans to function, evolve and learn. We, in turn, will learn and create in new ways too.

This beneficial co-dependency can expand and scale human potential not seen since the printing press 500 years ago. That is if we choose —and demand—to see it that way.

The internet gave us the most powerful vehicle to retrieve and remix ideas. Through new intelligent agents, we will have the power to generate and expand on new ones.

Original visions for A.I. contrast with the fears and moral panic swirling around it today—that they will replace jobs, stunt education, and downgrade creativity. Reflecting on Jobs's metaphor, it's interesting to note anxiety around bicycles in the 1800s. That’s right, even bicycles were considered controversial inventions. According to this recording from the Pessimists Archive, bicycles were blamed for all sorts of problems—from turning people insane to devastating local economies to destroying women’s morals.

A.I. AS AN IMAGINATION ENGINE

While A.I. fears are justified, the originators of intelligent computing didn't see tech supplanting us. They believed it would be additive. DALL*E, an engine that generates high-quality images from textual descriptions, is now regularly used to inform creative briefs. The same is true for ChatGPT kickstarting a cover letter template or writing assignment. Yet, listing rote use misses the creative potential others have begun to realize.

Karen X. Cheng is an inventive exemplar and artist of the moment. She's at the forefront of using computing to create new works of art, including Cosmopolitan's first A.I.-generated cover. She's also invented mediums spanning A.I. fashion, metaverse dance, and augmented reality sculptures to celebrate Lunar New Year. As a viral video influencer, Cheng also knows what makes ideas travel. Her point of view, powered by pioneering new technologies, has garnered fame and attention. The confluence of her social media skills and collaborations with A-list celebrities has generated over 500 million views. 

Though Cheng is concerned that A.I. will leave some creators behind, she’s an optimist. She believes the key ingredients required to produce excellent art will remain constant: An artistic eye, dogged perseverance, and, most saliently, the ability to translate what's seen in the mind's eye to the work. Check out this excellent interview for more on how Cheng thinks about her craft. 

A SHIFT IN HOW WE THINK

As Cheng's career can attest, the creative ground has shifted, as has learning and knowledge. A massive unbundling and reinvention of sensemaking is also underway. 

Make no mistake, the headlines will continue to swirl around the titanic Big Tech battle for A.I. supremacy (see Microsoft's $10B investment in OpenAI and Google's preview of revolutionary search). But in the background, there will be a proliferation of new apps unlocking potential through specific use cases.

The "app for that" ecosystem will become one of an "A.I. for everything" environment. It's hard at the moment to envision the scope of this burgeoning ecosystem. It seems that noted V.C. firm a16z would agree. It's pegged the potential market size of generative A.I. as "somewhere between all software and all human endeavors."

A cursory review of currently available "perspective agents" already spans territories historically the domain of librarians, research assistants, relationship advisors, travel agents, translators, and cultural guides. For example:

AllSearchA.I. Allows users to search passages from thousands of books. It's been referred to as Great Books on steroids. Link

Apple Audiobooks. Audiobooks narrated by a text-to-speech A.I. are now available via Apple's Books service, which has potentially enormous implications for the multi-billion-dollar audiobook industry. Apple describes the new "digital narration" feature as making "the creation of audiobooks more accessible to all" by reducing "the cost and complexity" of producing them for authors and publishers. Link

Consensus. Ask a question and get evidence-based conclusions from an analysis of 200 million research papers. Its mission is to use A.I. to make scientific research accessible and consumable for the masses. Link

Eightify. A new A.I.-powered YouTube summary engine using GPT-3. It bills potential benefits such as getting news without fluff, making faster decisions, learning more in less time, and overcoming language barriers. Link

Flamme A.I. This relationship-focused A.I. generates date ideas and features a community-powered "Ask Me Anything" and a supercharged partner profile to help you and your partner stay and grow in love. Link

Generative Press. Positioned as the first newspaper entirely run by A.I., this curates news content from Twitter and popular news sites. It also incorporates tweets by verified citizen journalists to learn about the latest happenings live. A.I.s write the news after gathering all the context. It's automated from beginning to end. No editorial team, no human intervention, "only news.” Link

Good Movies to Watch. Knowing what's worth watching can be challenging with the abundance of streaming services available. This freemium service evaluates and suggests films and television shows. Link

Historical Figures. Users can have extended text conversations with robots simulating the perspectives of notable people from history, including Plato, Queen Elizabeth, Babe Ruth, and Abraham Lincoln. It's already sparked viral controversy online over including Adolf Hitler and other dictators from the past. Link

Vacay. A free A.I. travel assistant is a chatbot that answers travel-related inquiries and creates trips that align with your preferences and budget. Just ask it a question and watch the itinerary unfold. Link

Some have likened ChatGPT to the equivalent of a calculator for writing. I think of it, and other generative A.I.’s like those listed here, more expansively. Given the expanse of what’s playing out, they’ll become like flight instruments in a cockpit. They're there to assist, but you, the pilot, will still need to steer the take-off and landing and exercise your expertise to fly safely. For some, the cockpit may be a creative suite like Adobe, and for others, a knowledge suite similar to Google.

The composition will become highly personal, depending on the job. A.I. tools are in their infancy – a means to an end, not an end, and certainly not the end. It's important to understand their strengths, weaknesses, and fit through hands-on experimentation.

Let’s be clear. A.I.’s ascendance into the cultural zeitgeist is about much more than a new, mind-blowing program or intriguing app. For now, the proliferation of new tools amounts to a mass creative social experiment. 

They’re vehicles to propel thinking and creativity. Be wary of those seeing generative A.I. as a shortcut to displace both — and people — in the process.