Last year, I wrote about being conflicted about AI. The post blew up, got shared on Hacker News and various newsletters, and I got more feedback than usual. The response wasn't what I expected. I thought others would relate, but instead everyone picked a side.
The AI enthusiasts told me that I didn't understand how powerful or transformative the technology is. The critics agreed with the negatives in the article but dismissed its utility.
Nobody said "yes, me too, I'm also conflicted about AI."
I've been mulling this over and I think I understand why: certainty is a defence mechanism. When something is genuinely scary, ambivalence is intolerable. You have to pick a side to feel in control.
"AI is amazing, embrace it" or "AI is terrible, reject it" are positions that allow you to stop thinking. Being conflicted requires you to keep sitting with the discomfort.
Robert Greene put it well: "The need for certainty is the greatest disease the mind faces."
I learnt to write HTML and CSS 25 years ago, and I've been paid to make websites for over 20 years. In all that time, I've never seen anything disrupt the industry like AI is doing. I've heard from several freelancers who have lost work to AI. We don't need 'superintelligence' to be scared. The LLMs we have today are good enough to reshape the job market. The fear is justified.
AI is a frightening technology yet also genuinely useful. I don't know how this will end. But I do know I'm still conflicted, and I'm okay with that. Not everything needs a firm opinion.
Sitting with ambivalence is actually the more thoughtful position.