Some thought from genAI tools

Mon, 03 Feb 2025 12:23:52 +0800

An image captured on Yugung Island at sunset.

Introduction

This comeback post is dedicated to generative AI – coincidentally, the filed I’ve been using and experimenting with the most recently.

From the moment ChatGPT was released, I started using it almost immediately. Of course, at first, it was just out of curisoity – after all, a chat bot capable of fluent conversations was nearly unheard of before then. Back then, it was nothing more than a novelty. While I was impressed by its conversational ability, I didn’t see it as a tool with real productivity potential.

That changed when OpenAI began rolling out updates – GPT-3.5, 3.5-turbo, 4, and 4o. What started as a text-based entertainment tool evolved into a multimodal powerhouse capable of handling images, voice, and even real-time video inputs.

All of these advancements happend in less than two yeas. In that short time, ChatGPT transitioned from a fun gimmick to a powerful assistant capable of aiding in various tasks. This rapid progress made me wonder: What comes next for humanity and AI tools? Or, as Ilya Sutskever once suggested, could these models be the emergence of an entirely new species of intelligence? And more importantly, how should I personally navigate these groundbreaking developments?

AI’s influence isn’t limited to daily life – it’s also reshaping academia and industry.

The 2024 Nobel Price marked a significant milestone, as it recognized several groundbreaking AI-related constributions. John J. Hopfield and Geoffery Hinton were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physics for their foundational research on artificial neural networks. Meanwhile, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry was awarded to researchers who leveraged AI to study protein structures and design.

This awards sent a shockwave through the academic world. The Nobel Prize, often considered the pinnacle of human intellectual achievement, had officially acknowledged AI as a transformative force in scientific research. This level of recognition suggests that the impact of AI will soon extend far beyond academia and permeate society as a whole.

In fact, AI has already deeply integrated itself into human life, reshaping industries and job markets. A study titled Who Is AI Replacing? The Impact of Generative AI on Online Freelancing Platforms exminied how the rise of AI, particularly ChatGPT and AI-generated imgery tools, has affected the freelance market. The findings are striking:

Abstract

• Within eight months of ChatGPT’s release, job postings for automation-prone roles (e.g., writing, coding, and automation) decreased by 20.86% more than manual-intensive jobs.

• Writing jobs saw the largest decline (30.37%), followed by software development (20.62%) and engineering (10.42%).

• The introduction of AI-powered image-generation tools (Midjourney, Stable Diffusion, DALL-E 2) led to a 17.01% decline in job postings for graphic design (18.49%) and 3D modeling (15.57%).

Even with AI tools avaliable today (as of 2024), their impact is already massive. This make me wonder: At this pivotal moment of technological change, what mindset should I adopt? How can I best utilize these tools while ensuring I don’t lose essential skills?

The Impact of AI on Me

Wait – lose essential skills? Could AI actually replace humans? Will I lose my job?

That’s not really what concerns me. In fact, if AI were to replace certain jobs entirely, I wouldn’t be too suprised. Technology, especially AI, has been evolving at an unprecedented pace. Who would have imagined that ChatGPT, introduced in 2022, would, in just two years, become capable of performing tasks once exclusive to humans – sometimes even better that humans?

While I enjoy the convenience AI tools bring, I also feel a subtle sense of unease. The more I rely on these tools, the more I wonder: Am I losing skills I once took for granted?

A while ago, I was discussing camera optics with a friend, and the term CoC (Circle of Confusion) came up. I was unfamiliar with it, so Instinctively turned to ChatGPT for an explanation. Since I was in a hurrry, I asked in Chinese instead of English (though I generally find English responses more accurate).

ChatGPT gave me a seemingly reasonable but ultmately misleading answer. Without questioning it, I internalized the explanation and repeated it in our discussion.

It was until later that I realized ChatGPT’s interpretation in Chinese had misled me, leading to misunderstanding in my discussion with my friend.

Looking back, Irealized that my growing dependence on AI had eroded my critical thinking skills. I used to cross-check information from multiple sources – but now, with making information so readily avaliable, that verification process was slowly being skipped.

And that wasn’t the only habit that changed.

I started relying on AI to write initial draft of my code, refining them later instend of thinking through solutions from scratch.
When I encountered a problem, my first instinct became asking ChatGPT for a summary rather than researching on my own.

Is that a bad thing? Not necessarily. If anything, these tools have made me more efficient at work and in life. But at the same time, I feel like my ability to think deeply and solve problems independetly is slowly diminishing.

Kars stopped thinking.

Final Thoughts: How Should We Use AI?

This post is more of a casual reflection – perhaps in the future, I’ll drive deeper into sepecific topics. (To be honest, I haven’t written in a while, so I’m a bit rusty!)

AI tool bring unparalleled convenience, but as we rely on them more, what unintended side effects will emerge? So far, I’ve already noticed some negative impacts on myself.

I once attended a talk on AI, where the speaker emphasized:

“In the AI era, you need to find what you’re truly passionate about. That passion will be your shield against disruption.”

Expanding on this idea, AI tools can now easily produce “passing-grade” result in many fields. But to go beyond mediocrity, you need to learn into your passions – because AI alone won’t provide that extra push.

For example, a financial analyst with zero coding experience can build a fully functional financial anaylysis bot in jhust a day – thanks to ChatGPT’s guidance. Someone with no artisitic ability can generate stunning, contextually relevant illustrations for their presentations – all with a simple text prompt.

The barrier to entry for many fields is dropping, but at the same time, the standard for excellence is rising.

That’s why, in the AI-driven future, I believe the key is to hone your passion-driven skills while using AI to remove obstacles – not letting AI replace your core abilites.

And that, I think, is the lesson I need to learn for the challenging times ahead.

TimeMemo

Some thought from genAI tools

Introduction

The Impact of AI on Me

Final Thoughts: How Should We Use AI?