Have you ever had a lightning bolt moment when something you never really cared about suddenly takes center stage in your life? That's what happened to me with AI. 

As someone with an insatiable curiosity, I still could never quite cozy up to the topic of AI, dismissing it as cold and detached from the warmth of human connection. I just wasn’t into it, like at all.

But then, life played its wild card. 

It all began about five months ago, when found myself surrounded by tech-savvy friends, diving into the worlds of digital platforms, social networks, and even crypto and web3 (yes, polarizing but oh-so-fascinating). And then, AI started popping up everywhere and infiltrating my life – through news articles, conversations, and my own thoughts. 

AI has been around for a while, and most of us use it daily, often without even realizing.  But suddenly, I wasn’t just intrigued.  I was hooked. 

As I immersed myself more deeply into the world of AI, I discovered its astonishing potential. On a grand scale, AI can tackle monumental problems, cure diseases, and predict disasters. But it’s also a productivity powerhouse and an equalizer, opening the door to boundless creativity that can unlock the depth of our gifts and passions in ways that were unimaginable before.

AI can help us design a dream garden that blooms with our favorite flowers, create ideal playlists within minutes for any occasion, or serve as our virtual travel guide in planning our dream vacation. It can uncover hidden talents and professional opportunities, and even suggest spot-on gift ideas for the most hard-to-shop-for people in our lives (we all have those😊).

And there's stuff like this: The original cast of The Matrix, with some help from AI audio trainers cover Vanilla Ice's "Ice Ice Baby"!

But AI isn't just another emerging tech. It's a mirror, reflecting who we are back to us – our brilliance and our vulnerabilities, our light and our shadow, our beauty and our chaos. 

As we gaze into the AI looking glass, we can’t shy away from the darker reflections and the complex challenges it raises. From job displacement to discrimination, privacy invasions to potential misuse, the shadows loom large. And as big tech companies race toward AI dominance, ethics often take a backseat to profit. 

This technology is moving at pace almost no one outside of AI companies fully realizes. It will be mere months – not years - before we feel the impact.  And since technology consistently outpaces regulation, the idea of our fragmented government uniting to intelligently regulate AI seems naïve at best. 

It’s all equally exciting and daunting. 

But the genie is out of the bottle, and it ain't going back in. 

So, how do we find our way through the shadows?

1. We need to own it. This technology isn’t alien or remote; it's something we created. It’s a part of us, and we have to engage with it honestly and with humility, so we can better understand its potential and scary downsides.
    
2. We need to be deeply curious and take the time to understand it, so we can have a better chance of finding our footing in this brave new world.  This is the dawn of a new era, and we can’t be spectators. 
    
3. We need to embrace its complexities. Our choices come with some pretty weighty consequences, and there's no easy fix or clear path forward. So, we must explore this topic as a collective, and have the difficult conversations that test our assumptions and welcome multiple perspectives. 

And addressing the challenges calls for more than just intellect. We need emotional intelligence and empathy to truly explore the heart of these complexities.

Whew – that’s a lot, I know. I understand the feeling of being overwhelmed and a bit intimidated by it all.  I’m still working through parts of my own overwhelm.

But every day, I become more fascinated devoting most of my days and nights to learning more about where we’ve been, where we are, where we might be going, and what it all means for each of us and the future of humanity. As a brand strategist, I’ve also been thinking a lot about the implications for brands and businesses.  

That’s why I’ll be hosting some conversations on the topic in the coming weeks and months, examining AI and this revolution through various lenses. 

And this morning, I launched an Instagram account, @SavvyAviAI, that will hopefully serve as your trusty compass for exploring and navigating the world of AI. Follow it for insights, news, tips, tools and inspiration so you can stay in the know and learn how to unlock AI’s full potential. 

I've also created two guides for those who share my curiosity and want to learn more: a concise AI guide covering the basics, and a non-techie's guide for ChatGPT prompts. Both are linked below.

As always, I highly appreciate your feedback and questions - hit reply and share or ask.

Here's to embracing the complexities, the light, the shadow, and the wisdom within.

Avi

AI Guides

This Month's Gems

World-renowned relationship therapist and author Esther Perel killed it with her talk at SXSW last month, which was focused on the impact of technology (including dating apps) on our expectations and relationships. It's 43 minutes, but worth it! 

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