(This originally appeared in Jesse’s Weird Newsletter. You can sign up for it here.)
A few years ago, I came across this dash cam video from another country. It was dusk and suddenly a comet lit up the sky as it powered its way across the screen.
It was absolutely incredible … and my first thought was that it was fake.
And that sucks.
Technology and AI are accelerating like a bullet train, and there are lots of think-pieces on how AI will take jobs, debates on the ethics of deepfakes, and editorials arguing AI stunts young people’s ability to think critically.
But what irritates me most about the AI Age is that it has robbed my sense of wonder.
That feeling of amazement watching a video of something incredible happening somewhere on this planet. Comets. Rare wildlife. Trick shots. The joy that once came from something interesting on the internet has been replaced by instinctive cynicism.
Fake! Edited! Not real!
That skepticism is beneficial when consuming news, especially when it comes from social media.
However, life is less pleasant when you view the world through a pessimistic lens instead of with curiosity. And this isn’t coming from a Luddite ready to storm the gates of Silicon Valley and tear everything down.
I use AI every day and regularly feel like an armchair god when I create images out of nothingness. And it’s a lot of fun to make it seem like Trump is saying something about this humble newsletter.
But I’m so ingrained with this technology that while the abilities of AI are undoubtedly impressive, my amazement at real things happening in the real world is withering away.
E.B. White, author of Charlotte’s Web, said that, “we must always be on the lookout for the presence of wonder.”
That’s all well and good, but do you know what Charlotte said in Charlotte’s Web?
“Trust me, Wilbur. People are very gullible. They’ll believe anything they see in print.”
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