How Our Fear Of Technology Reflects Our Relationship to Reality

From AI Anxiety to Empowerment

It took me decades to learn to think for myself.

I am not about to let a machine do it.

Besides, everyone knows the machines are going to take over the world.

I am the creative element, not the machine.

Yes, I am talking about Artificial Intelligence or AI.

Not going with the AI trend

I was exposure to AI about 2 years ago. It was in my first writing group. Creative people were starting to mention how much help they got from AI. I was abhorred.

I watched the news and could see for myself how fast AI was growing. It wasn't going to think for me. I could do this myself.

I had started reading about the prompts. It was important to get this right. If you ask the wrong questions, you get bad answers.

I was still new in my writing career. I was looking for my style and my voice. There was no way a machine could help me with this.

I kept AI on the edges and ignored it. I went about my business of writing. But this business was hard.

Social media and writing online were very new things for me. My social media was scrolling Facebook for jokes and to keep in touch with my family and friends.

I started posting on X. I started my newsletter 6 months later.

I gained more confidence, but I was still scared of the whole writing process. AI just seemed like more competition that I didn’t need in a world that was already full of writers.

Here is what I determined was scary about AI:

•   Humans are going to become obsolete/replaced.

•   Going to replace human interaction.

• Technology changes so quickly, it is hard to keep up.

• People will stop thinking for themselves.

• All facts are wrong. You have to fact-check everything.

• AI can’t be trusted. (I secretly thought it was going to suck my soul.)

I wanted to come up with valid points for not using AI. Not crazy facts. And there was craziness out there.

Okay. I went the crazy route when I accused AI of taking over the world. I agree; I have seen too many evil computers. Also my soul was still intact.

Some people worry that artificial intelligence will make us feel inferior, but then, anybody in his right mind should have an inferiority complex every time he looks at a flower. -Alan Kay

Changing my mindset

I focused on my mindset at the same time. The future made me very anxious. I learned to take my anxiety apart. I reframed it so I wasn’t as anxious anymore. This took months.

I was slowly gaining confidence in myself. I was still hesitant about my future, but it was getting better. I knew from experience that it was all in my head. I just needed to think about it differently.

I just happened to look at the people around me. With one exception, I noticed that if they were not part of my writing people, they wouldn’t look at AI.

I also noticed that the more they were against AI, the more afraid they were of the world. My interest really peaked last year during the election. I watched the world become more fractured.

Since I have friends in both the liberal and conservative mindsets, I was watching them turn on each other. The world was coming to an end. Everybody was a Nazi. (I saw statements from both sides claiming this fact. I was appalled because of the casual use of this word. Geez. )

I still kept working on my mindset. I wasn’t going to fall into the abyss of fear and anxiety.

This peaked in the last couple of weeks as I got my mindset reset. My fear and anxiety dropped away. I could look at the world with possibility again. I didn’t dread going out into the world. I looked at things so differently.

Curiosity wins over fear

I admit that my curiosity is uncontrolled. It overcomes everything else. Including my fear.

I watched enough writers to know they were using AI safely. It was time for me to check it out myself. So I started with the research into AI benefits.

What good could AI do? Here is what I discovered:

• It helps people do things they can’t do for themselves.

• It can keep our elders independent longer. AI could help with tasks that they are no longer able to do. This could be big because if they ever get self-driving cars, people who can’t drive will be able to be independent.

• Help with diagnosing diseases. I saw research for cancer that sometimes AI could pinpoint something a technician had not seen.

• Help us process the huge amount of information overload we experience daily.

• Helps creators. We can take ideas and move them further than we thought possible.

• AI is a tool.

Well, that doesn’t seem bad. Ok. Time to check it out myself.

Technology is anything that wasn't around when you were born.- Alan Kay

So I got on ChatGPT. I admit I was a little desperate. I was looking for ideas for an article, and the deadline was approaching.

It did give me ideas for the article. None of them were usable, but they changed my thinking. I got the article done.

It reminded me of the first time I got on the Internet, which had been around for a while. I clicked an icon, and there it was—scary easy.

My first research on the Internet took hours. I was in awe of all the information I found.

ChatGPT was the same way. You press an icon and boom- information at your fingertips.

Image generated by Leonardo AI

But I  heard that you can customize it to talk with you. Okay, I had to check that out.

This is when my use of AI boomed. I started projects that AI helped me with that I never conceived of myself doing. I was astounded and excited. I was going in directions I never imagined. The world opened up for me.

I realized how much of a tool AI can be. The only limit is my imagination.

AI gives us independence

I realize that the use of AI depends on the person who uses it. It’s like a gun. In the right hands, it is safe. In the wrong hands, it can be disastrous. 

AI is a tool. The choice about how it gets deployed is ours. -Oren Etzioni

I realized the mindset we have about things determines if we see threats or opportunities.

Here are some steps you can take to look at this:

• Start by facing the fear or anxiety. Admit it is there. Next, give yourself love and forgiveness, and don't condemn yourself for your feelings. Embrace it as a part of yourself.

• Explode your curiosity. We all have passions. We probably have a burning question we want answered. This is where I suggest you start with AI. Ask the question.

• Be open-minded. AI has to learn about you to get the best answers for you. Be willing to explore.

• Remember, AI is a tool. What you put into it will give you back. It's just information. You can actually use AI for the information overload that we live with. It can be the filter that keeps you from getting overwhelmed.

• AI isn't perfect. Please fact-check what you need to. Humans are still programming this, so things are going to be wrong. Be patient.

As you master the technology, your confidence in the world increases. As you get involved with it, you find your place in the world. It was never lost. You just lost yourself for a little bit.