Why Not AI

In a world of Charlies, be Santiago.

When I was in middle school, before the first Apple PCs made their appearance, we read Flowers for Algernon. For those of you unfamiliar, Algernon is a mouse, an unwilling participant in experimental brain surgery, and foreshadowing for human Charlie. The arc of the story takes both on a journey from limited mental capabilities to extraordinary ones.

That’s where I see us now. Articles written in seconds. Code bases developed in minutes. Entire academic disciplines’ most complex questions answered.

My question is… to what end?

Since the beginning of time humans have struggled with purpose. Let’s be honest. To stay alive is exhausting. How can I eat and not be eaten? Every. Single. Day. So we build friendships and lean into hobbies and, if we’re really lucky, find jobs that pay us (modern hunting) that we truly enjoy. The crux of community – the sharing of skills for the betterment of the individuals.

And that’s just gone now? We don’t need to think anymore? Yay -- the machine will do it. We each suddenly have capabilities that we had only previously dreamed of. We can all do everything now. But where, now, do we find purpose?

You cannot tell me that the vibe coder is learning to code. They’re not. There are a host of micro skills that go into developing expertise in anything. That’s what’s being lost. And when the machines go down or costs too much or – oh wait, I don’t have any more money to pay the machine – those coders will still not know how to code.

And where does that leave you?

Let’s celebrate the experts. The masters. Because they worked and studied and nurtured a talent within themselves. That is the human spirit.

The only way – the ONLY way – to avoid the fate of Algernon and Charlie is to believe in ourselves.

- Lauren