MC.44: How AI Became My Invisible Friend

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Hey everyone,

I never thought I'd be using AI to understand art. But there I was, standing in front of a Saint Jerôme tableau in Alquézar, Spain. Instead of just nodding and moving on, I pulled out my phone and asked ChatGPT about it.

Suddenly, the painting came alive. Each element had a story, a meaning. It was like having a personal art historian whispering in my ear. This moment made me reflect on how AI has sneaked into my life this past year.

At first, I experimented like much everyone else - generating images with Midjourney, creating poems and trying to solve code issues with ChatGPT. The randomness of the answers made it fun and painful at the same time.

But then, AI started showing up in unexpected places:

• It became my writing buddy, helping me organize my thoughts and polish my English. (My writing has improved so much, AI barely corrects me now!)

• It turned into a data wizard, creating dashboards and maps from CSV files in minutes instead of hours.

• It became a playful storyteller for my 4-year-old daughter, teaching her about animals and the world.

• It's now my holiday companion, translating menus and explaining art in museums.

Ben Evans pointed out something important: “Hundreds of millions of people have tried ChatGPT, but most of them haven’t been back”. Most folks have no clue about its potential. It's still an engine that needs the right words to work properly.

So, here's the big question: Will we end up with a bunch of specialized AI apps (like a "17th Century Art Guide"), or will people learn to use general AI assistants like ChatGPT for everything?

Maybe we can make a general AI more contextual and reactive by giving it more data: our location, our work, our family composition and habits? But then how to ensure all this data is used wisely? Do we want a future where few companies have this power on us like Google, Apple and Microsoft already have in a way?

I don't know the answer, but I'm excited to see how it unfolds. For now, I'm just enjoying having this invisible, knowledgeable friend by my side, ready to help with almost* anything like understanding ancient art.

What about you? How has AI snuck into your life? I'd love to hear your stories!

Cheers,

Sam

*Fun fact: I tried to get Claude and ChatGPT to create a 30-word crossword puzzle. They both failed miserably. When you think a threshold has been passed, things that look simple but break bring you back to reality!

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