# The AI Instruction Paradox By:: [[Brian Heath]] 2024-12-28 If one works with AI like ChatGPT, one realizes it's really good at some things and horrible at others. This is not that surprising, but what is surprising is just how many people miss the point of what AI is offering today and what it means for humanity. These AI chatbots are great at following instructions and generating content based on the quality of the instruction. If one is terrible at giving instructions or doesn't know what to do, the AI chatbot sits there awaiting further orders. It has no intentionality or conscientiousness. One must tell it what to do. If one is incapable or completely inexperienced in telling people what to do, an AI chatbot is a strange tool from a strange land. In this case, someone must tell one what to tell it what to do, and then, like magic, it works. The hope is that one might eventually learn how to command the AI chatbot without being told what to do, but when one looks around, one finds that most seem incapable of doing such things. In school, one is taught to follow directions, not give them. Most learn how to do the work as instructed by the organization or their boss. Few extend beyond being told what to do. Furthermore, even fewer are truly creative and do something original. Most who decide to tell others what to do or to create something only play in the margins of the instruction booklet. AI chatbots have immense power and capability, but most people only use them as they are told to use them. This serves the status quo well. Is it any wonder that the largest and richest organizations in the world are building and investing trillions of dollars into AI chatbots? They follow orders and never come up with something outside the lines. On the one hand, AI chatbots will replace much of our "2020" work, assuming somewhat competent people are giving it instructions. This is a boom for organizational efficiency. However, do we live in a society competent to provide good and meaningful instructions? Hence, we are coming to an interesting paradox: without thought and wisdom, we can't achieve the outcomes of the technology that was generated via thought and wisdom. Idiocracy reigns supreme. We'll soon forget how to keep plants alive. #### Related Items [[Artificial Intelligence]] [[Thinking]] [[Society]] [[Knowledge]] [[Wisdom]] [[Creative]] [[Work]] [[Paradox]]