The Most Important Reminder About Tech Is Appearing Everywhere

Every week I read stories of a rising revolt against automation, evidenced by everything from workers posting trade secrets after being displaced by AI through to university students actively booing commencement speakers who promote AI. At the same time, there are plenty of companies and leaders creating their own form of "human-washing" where they are outwardly communicating a people-focused mission while simultaneously replacing people with AI. What does it take to stand out and be seen as actually human-centric?

This week there was also a story about Etsy's new marketing campaign focused on why human moments still matter. The effort works because the message feels true to what Etsy has always offered: a fair platform for real people to create things they are passionate about and sell them directly to customers. Then there was the story of former Apple tech guy Steve Wozniak getting cheers for his commencement address where he spoke about how students already have AI: "actual intelligence" ...

Speaking to graduates earlier this month, the 75-year-old reflected on decades spent working alongside engineers attempting to recreate human cognition through software and hardware. He joked that despite all the advances in computing, the most reliable way to make a brain still “takes nine months,” drawing another round of laughter from the audience. Wozniak encouraged students to think independently and resist treating AI systems as substitutes for genuine understanding or intuition.

In future weeks, these sorts of stories will continue to pop into all of our feeds and reinforce the same idea. This is a great thing. The more we all hear this reminder that AI cannot and should not substitute your ability to think for yourself, the more likely it is that all of us will make better choices about how we use the tools that are available to us.