Random Forays | Are we still using our brains, even today?
The act of writing, which used to require much thought and often, wisdom too, is touted by champions of AI to be much better left to ChatGPT and the like
One of the most challenging trends that humankind currently faces, is the overwhelming invasion of generative artificial intelligence into our lives. The question to be asked, before we altogether lose the ability to answer it, is whether we’re actually still using our brains. And the answer is, hardly!
A vast majority of our quotidian tasks have already been hijacked by technology, of the deep or shallow variety. ChatGPT and other such tools are evolving into even more ultra smart avatars that will obviate the need for humans to ponder over all nature of complex problems as well. Even birthday parties, picnics, treks, romantic dates, pep talks, confessions, betrothals and negotiations related to any of these hitherto human activities have been overtaken by our devices and by that nameless, faceless, heartless monster that is the internet.
Those simple decisions like which ice cream to buy, have now to be perforce taken under the very watchful eye of Zomato or Swiggy or their ilk, and the platoon of pop-up soldiers that are purported to help us in deciding which flavour we really want, the size of the scoop and the nature of the container, along with a plethora of looming embellishments and accompaniments.
The act of writing, which used to require much thought and often, wisdom too, is touted by champions of AI to be much better left to ChatGPT and the like. Thus, our smartie-pants phones keep egging us on to ‘write using AI’. Any writer worth his or her salt can, even today, bet his last dollar (or rupee) that he could create a superior missive or poem than Mr AI. But passionate votaries of deep tech are entirely convinced that their tools can write much better than us. Well, good luck to them, when they have to write personalised love notes or apology messages to their beloveds. One heartless error and the whole context of the communique could be blown to smithereens!
{{/usCountry}}The act of writing, which used to require much thought and often, wisdom too, is touted by champions of AI to be much better left to ChatGPT and the like. Thus, our smartie-pants phones keep egging us on to ‘write using AI’. Any writer worth his or her salt can, even today, bet his last dollar (or rupee) that he could create a superior missive or poem than Mr AI. But passionate votaries of deep tech are entirely convinced that their tools can write much better than us. Well, good luck to them, when they have to write personalised love notes or apology messages to their beloveds. One heartless error and the whole context of the communique could be blown to smithereens!
{{/usCountry}}Which brings me to the moot point. Are the professionals and students of today solely learning how to use these generative AI tools to their advantage along the road ahead, or are they also learning to imbibe some empathetic, caring, humane qualities? Are they at all using their brains to deeply understand their subjects of study or pursuit? A recent meme pointed out that those who graduated before the ChatGPT era, should never consider themselves to be stupid!
An Instagram video showed us the clueless expressions of gen zee reps who were asked to tell the time from an analogue clock! Come to think of it, memorising a mobile number or calculating any total mentally is not part of a young man’s life skills dossier any more. But keeping our brains agile and using their inner layers much more than we tend to do in this very spoilt era, is a much-needed mental fitness requirement of current times.
A study by Dr Nataliya Kosmyna of MIT Media Lab, proved that those who used only their brains for writing essays, displayed superior brain power and memory faculties over a period of time, compared to those who relied wholly or partially on AI to do so. And of course I picked up that finding from a search engine!
Gen zee has a lot going for it, and many youngsters of today are far superior in intellect and even emotional quotient than generations before them. But the ability to think deeply and critically, to comprehend and analyse human situations, to express themselves creatively and passionately, also require qualities of heart and mind, which the cold, emotionless, ruthless, world of technology cannot even ‘pretend’ to possess.
So, the next time a vegetable seller squabbles with us, a google map leads us up the wrong street, an internet glitch prevents us from making a UPI payment, or a salesman floods us with options which inundate our minds, perhaps we should look up at the sky and remember old times. In human situations, we often need basic common sense, innate brain resources, heartfelt emotions, a pat on the back, and even a good night’s sleep, to wade through. These ‘tools’ would surely prove more impactful for us in the overall context, than ChatGPT and all its cousins put together!
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