What ChatGPT reveals about us

Recently, a couple people mentioned they used ChatGPT for certain pressing questions. I laughed, because it said so much. What are the big questions we are asking, even when we don’t say it out loud to each other. What role does AI play in our humdrum, everyday lives? I admit, I’m almost a Luddite when it comes to my attitude towards evolving technology. I wonder why we need to always push for better/faster/”the answer”. Is there always only one answer? No, that’s not entirely fair/true–I’m guilty of using Google search daily, and at the top of most searches is a quick AI overview, and I (mostly) trust it to get enough details right, because hey, who has the time to weed through a bazillion query results and determine the best match? One time, though, I saw that it was wrong–a needed reminder about the fallibility of such intelligence. 

Maybe my concern is that in the quest for artificial intelligence, we have lost sight (and ability) to be truly human with one another–to share the big questions that we face together. To talk it out and listen and hold space together, even if we don’t have the answers. Because maybe the point isn’t always about the answer, but about acknowledging and holding all the emotions (and thoughts, and fears) that come with being human and being “inextricably middled” in our stories (as my graduate school professor Iain Provan would say). Because as far as I know, ChatGPT doesn’t have an answer for that.