AI, Oh My!
(A)rtificial (I)ntelligence is all the rage. Let's start with the headlines: 36% of S&P 500 companies mentioned “AI” in their earnings calls, up from 31% the previous quarter. AI has now replaced the once-buzzword “metaverse.” It feels like eons ago when we were ready to ditch the real world for the virtual one.
And we can't forget about the stock darling, Nvidia, which is up 190% year-to-date and recently crushed earnings. It's been a rocket ship of a stock (though not as impressive as Abercrombie—but that's for another post). The valuation has become so bloated that NYU Stern professor Aswath Damodaran suggests Nvidia needs to dominate another sector like AI to justify its valuation. The investor community has gotten drunk on AI, rendering anything not related to it seemingly worthless. Just look at Salesforce’s stock price post-earnings.
One of my go-to podcasts is “Pivot” with Kara Swisher and Scott Galloway. Scott raised an excellent point about the potential harms of AI. He noted that as OpenAI continues to scrape all existing web content to learn, especially with its recent deal with Reddit, it risks lacking the true humanity that exists in the real world. Since it primarily digests short-form posts and comments, it could lack depth and thoughtfulness. I think that given our society is becoming more digitally selfish and quick to respond, this trend may influence AI and, in turn, affect us even more.
This brings me to my main thoughts on this trend. We, as a society, love convenience, and AI offers that in spades. Not only can it help us think, but it could also become a companion—one that could boost our egos and affirm our worth. Why listen to criticism from another person when an all-knowing AI buddy can tell me how amazing I am? Just as we've come to fully trust our mobile devices, what's to stop us from fully trusting AI's take on the world and ourselves?
We face a challenging future with this variable in our lives. While AI can significantly boost productivity, it also poses dangers. We must educate ourselves, value true human interaction, and use AI as a tool without letting it define us. One thing is certain: we will continue to have many questions about AI because it will never stop learning.