I’ve watched the internet, personal computers, smartphones, social media come and go. And honestly? AI is exactly the same pattern as everything else.<\/p>\n
It arrives with incredible promises: “it’s going to change the world!” It creates enormous buzz. People believe. People panic. And then… reality is more nuanced than the promise or the panic.<\/p>\n
The secret you learn in 50 years? Neither the techno-optimists nor the tech-pessimists are right. It’s more complicated than that.<\/p>\n
In 1995, they said the internet would make everything transparent and democratic. It helped. But it also created information bubbles and gave enormous power to a few companies.<\/p>\n
With smartphones: “you’ll have access to all the world’s information in your pocket.” True. But also: you’ll be addicted to your phone and a company will track you constantly.<\/p>\n
AI now: “it’ll make people super productive.” Probably. But it’ll also eliminate certain jobs and concentrate power further.<\/p>\n
The lesson: take the promises with a grain of salt. Reality is always more complex.<\/p>\n
The internet? Technically available in 1980. But the social impact (Facebook, YouTube, Twitter) came in 2005+.<\/p>\n
We didn’t understand the surveillance problems until 10 years later. The polarization problems another 10 years after that.<\/p>\n
AI? We’ll probably learn the real problems in 2030-2035. Not now.<\/p>\n
That means: if you think we truly understand AI’s impact now, you’re wrong.<\/p>\n
The internet wasn’t the problem. The problem was how companies used it to surveil people.<\/p>\n
Smartphones weren’t the problem. The problem was how platforms used them to create addiction.<\/p>\n
AI isn’t the problem. The problem is how humans will use it. Will we make it accessible and equitable? Or concentrate power even more?<\/p>\n
The technology itself? That’s a question of neutrality. The usage? That’s a question of power.<\/p>\n
Paradoxical, but true. People want a better future. But they don’t want to change their lives now.<\/p>\n
AI will create progress. But also create change, which will hurt some people. And it’s true that it’s hard for those people.<\/p>\n
The solution? It’s not “ignore the technology.” It’s “build social systems that help people adapt.” Training. Support. Economic safety net.<\/p>\n
We knew Facebook was a problem in 2010. The regulation? 2018+. By then, the damage was done.<\/p>\n
AI? There are already calls for regulation. It’ll probably come in 2028 or 2030. And it’ll be reactive, not proactive.<\/p>\n
It’s not that governments are stupid. It’s that tech moves faster than bureaucracy.<\/p>\n
First: be skeptical of hype. AI isn’t magic. Nor catastrophic. It’s a tool.<\/p>\n
Second: focus on usage, not technology. How do we ensure AI helps everyone and not just the rich?<\/p>\n
Third: prepare for change. Learn constantly. Be flexible. The next 50 years will be different from the last 50.<\/p>\n
Fourth: demand accountability. Not just from governments. From businesses. From your colleagues. From yourself.<\/p>\n
And finally: don’t be naive. The guys telling you AI will solve everything? They’re selling something. Stay critical.<\/p>\n
Technology gives us tools. What we do with them? That’s our responsibility. Not the machines’. Not the algorithms’.<\/p>\n
AI will be a big part of the future. But the future will be what we make of it.<\/p>\n
To truly understand what we can do with it, start with Sherpa<\/a> for the concrete reality, or explore Laeka Research<\/a> to understand the foundations.<\/p>\n And then make your choice. Informed. Critical. Conscious.<\/p>\n That’s what we’ve done for 50 years. That’s what we’ll keep doing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" The patterns repeat I’ve watched the internet, personal computers, smartphones, social media come and go. And honestly? AI is exactly…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":173,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[193],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-755","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-ai-in-quebec"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=755"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/755\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/173"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=755"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=755"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/laeka.org\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=755"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}