In which Wolf explains why tools make our lives better, but don’t actually save us time or effort. Watch this episode on YouTube here: https://youtu.be/AZJZ5kjpUlY
I’m a creative technologist: I study the latest technologies, and then figure out how to use them to solve problems for my clients. So what I do is right at the intersection of technology, and problem solving.
In my life I’ve watched the rise of, and made my own small contributions to: the personal computer industry, the computer games industry, the Internet, the mobile electronics industry, technology used for strategic planning, cryptocurrency, and now I’m studying the world of A.I., which is the next technological leap about to change all our lives.
Game changing tools come along every once in a while, like my own Flying Logic, which is my tool for strategic planning and deep problem solving, and Stable Diffusion, which is the A.I. tool I’ve been using the create the artwork for these videos.
People have invented many useful tools that help us perceive the world accurately, arrange our knowledge, think about it logically, develop plans, and communicate effectively. Despite having all these tools, we must still do the hard work of thinking, and also the hard work of implementing our plans.
When new tools like these are introduced, they are often touted as labor-saving devices. But do we really do less work now that we have automobiles, telephones, and computers? Arguably, in our world of accelerating change, we often do more.
So here’s the secret: The result of having these tools is never to reduce labor, but to raise expectations.
Just as spreadsheets were a boon to accounting and financial planning but did not make accountants obsolete, tools like Flying Logic help systems thinkers and people with a passion for making the world and its systems better, but it doesn’t do the thinking for them. Stable Diffusion doesn’t replace artists and designers, because people still have to make choices about how art and design can help them convey their very real ideas about the world.
Here’s my takeaway for you: technology keeps making things easier, but life was never suppose to be easy. The goal of living a good life has always, and will always be a challenge. Personally, I wouldn’t trade living in this amazing time for living any time in the past. But my challenges, like yours, are very much the same challenges that humanity has always faced. And as always the answer lies in thought, study, reflection, and a deep sense of personal responsibility.