We’re all seeing it, AI getting throw into everything and shoved up in our faces.
Whether we want it or not.

If you ask me generally if I like AI, I don’t have a solid answer, but I lean towards no.
And it’s not because I don’t like the technology.
I think it’s amazing and has great potential.
It’s the excessive reliance on it, the excessive force of which it’s being forced on us.

I would love to use it to help improve my work and my life.

Since I work in IT you’d think it would be really useful.

Not so much for me.
Most of my tickets are what you would call Level 2/3, or projects like email migrations, server upgrades, network implementations.

When I’ve tried to see how AI would’ve handled something I did, it gave answers no better than 30 seconds of consulting Google/Reddit for results.
In fact, often times it gave worse answers. Most likely because it’s missing a ton of context, and I don’t know how to do that without releasing too much client info.
Am I using it wrong? Maybe. I’m open to learn it better, so if you’re gnashing your teeth at me using it wrong, use the contact page to educate me!

Getting back to the point, it’s not the tech that bothers me, it’s the “tech bros” claiming it will save so much time, money, effort, etc., but rarely deliver.
Or in the case of the arts, people who can’t draw a sketch, or don’t know a chord, claim to be artists.

I’m also seeing it used in computer code. With people who don’t know how to convert a series of “if, then, else’s” into a switch case, even worse, people who don’t know what any of what I just said even means!

AI can be a great tool to assist us in many tasks.
My clients have told me great stories of how it has shaved weeks of yearly tasks, or other processes.

And that’s just it, it’s a tool.

These so called “tech gurus” are trying to sell us a hammer saying it can build a house by itself, or all you need to do is provide the right prompts to do so.

You’ve seen it already.

You call in, or try to use chat to get help with something, and you get a chat bot running you in circles.
And I’m going on the record and NOT blaming AI for this.
I think AI could do the basics very well.
It’s how it’s made, and equally important, how it’s not improved.
If they aren’t feeding previous chat logs indicating satisfaction levels, and CONTINUOUSLY updating it, it’s going to be awful.
I see it with some of our vendors:

• I submit a ticket
• Get AI chat-bot
• Get miffed at the bad results
• Get transferred to real person
• Issue resolved quickly

I open a similar ticket a few months later, and it’s a repeat of my experience.
Even if it’s not 100% correct, it SHOULD be taking that previous example and using it for the next chat, and yet it’s like a new employee that’s never trained and never learns.
AND keep this in mind, it’s not talking to your average consumer or end user. It’s only accessible by someone like me who should be trusted to know more, and not told “Have you tried rebooting?”.
Yes, I reboot, I reboot all the time, to the point my clients get annoyed at me, and yet it still resolves 50% of issues in 3 minutes. Don’t argue, just do it!

We need to demand more of the people making AI, the companies using AI, and even of ourselves.
We can’t relay on it to do everything for us, we still need to be cognizant of what we’re trying to do.
We need to hold those using it to account.
We especially need those making it held to generally accepted ethical standards.

Unfortunately, an executive order in the US was issued that essentially says only the federal government can make laws for AI, instead of the states deciding.
And even then, it’s a relatively small “task force”
This greatly limits guardrails from being put in and allowing companies to run wild as our slow-as-molasses federal government struggles to understand this technology, let alone regulate it.
This also allows the AI industry to lobby a single source, instead of having to be careful of what it designs and implements.
AI, like any tool, can be used for good or bad, restricting the regulation to just a small group of people is never a good thing.

Now, I’m not some deep insider or advanced technology person.
I’m just a damned good technician/engineer for small/medium business IT needs.
I’m closer to the end user this will affect the most, rather than the CEOs of these big AI firms.

Take from this what you will.