#304: The Smarter Your Phone, the Dumber You Are
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Did you know that the smarter your phone, the dumber you are? I didn’t know that either until I made it up. Even though I made it up, I suspect there is some truth in it.
And now we have Artificial Intelligence apps. That’s right. No longer mere models on large computers, but apps. To boost your once-smart-enough phone.
The more we rely on technology, the less we bother to think. The less we think, the more our ability to reason withers away. The less we reason, the more we blindly rely on technology. The more we trust technology, the less often we do basic sanity checks.
Without basic sanity checks, errors creep in, mistakes happen, and failure follows.
Not so long ago, a skeptical generation held technology in check. Decades ago, I watched an older boss use a calculator to add the figures in a budget column, frown, and check the result by adding the column mentally. He did not trust his smart calculator. He would never have blindly steered wherever his GPS directed. Nor excitedly executed what his AI app commanded.
Do I use a smart phone? Of course. And AI? Not yet. Not while it means Amplifying Insanity.
Welcome to my side of the nonsense divide.