I don’t post here as much as I used to. This blog started as a cathartic outlet for my journey with faith, and later it became a hodgepodge for my hobbies and interests.
I’ve been working in IT since the mid 1980’s. I was incredibly lucky to start in the tech field as the PC industry was just taking off, back when Lotus 123 and MS DOS was a thing. I’m hoping to retire in five years, but there’s a bit of dread when it comes to the impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on the careers of so many, myself included.
Can I remain employed for another five years? Am I too old to embrace AI so that I stay relevant and useful?
There are plenty of doomsday articles and news posts about how AI will put huge swaths of white collar office workers out of a job in the coming months. I consider most of those articles to be overly sensationalized — clickbait pieces. They remind me of the many articles from 7+ years ago that said self-driving semi-trucks would be putting truck drivers out of a job in just a few short years. It didn’t happen. Are there self-driving semi-trucks on the road? Yes, particularly in Texas where there are specific routes (heavily regulated) that cross long boring spans of highway. But it’s a far cry from the sensationalized articles that painted a doomsday view for truck drivers. Hell, they can’t even get cars to intelligently drive themselves without crashing into shit. So the idea of having thousands of driver-less semi-trucks share the same highways that include large segments of passenger vehicles? It sounds more like a lawyer’s wet dream — a bonanza of lucrative lawsuits and personal injury cases waiting to happen.
But will AI be our downfall? Will a majority of office workers lose their job within the next year?
I’m calling bullshit.
I’m not anti AI. I have used ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, Sora, and more. They have written programming code for me, performed data analysis, drafted letters, created graphics, music, etc. I have found them to be quite helpful — most of the time. I’ve also been burned by their hallucinations and mistakes.
I’m also seriously concerned about the proliferation of data centers across the country with their extremely thirsty demands for electricity and water to cool those servers and GPU cards that run hot. Sure, many of the newer data centers are using a portion of recycled water, but these companies are also hiding the true amount of community water that is needed each day for their operations. It’s pretty scary.
It does make me wonder if we’re inching closer to self annihilation as a species. Human beings can be so fucking stupid. And smart. But stupid. I’m just hoping to survive a little longer before the AI doctors pull my plug.