Quick Knowing

AI has led me astray more than once

It just sounded so sure of itself

LLMs don’t present data as data

They weave narratives

Intimating that they know everything

You’re being seen and understood as you rarely are in life

And here’s your straightforward 7 day plan

It has been helpful, like when I had an identity theft scare

And super not helpful, like when it said an appointment would be covered when it wasn’t

Was it the LLM’s fault

Or mine, for accepting its authoritative tone as real

When I’m working with an LLM on something I actually know about

The errors are many and obvious

Which finally has me applying more discernment

When Google’s AI Overview gives me a convincing answer to something I’m truly questioning

It is something I need to remind myself to do

Question that contrived authority

And today I realize I need to bring that same skepticism

That same knowledge of the need for deeper inquiry

When fear swoops in

Intimating that it knows everything

It’s the authority

It has the data

It cares for me and understands me and wants to support me

Both fear and LLMs only have access to the past

Rearranging it and calling it the future

But that’s not a real future

It’s just the regurgitated past

And I’ve certainly had enough of that

I don’t necessarily think fear or AI is trying to deceive me

I think they’re trying to present themselves as an authority that already knows what to do

You know, to help me feel better

It’s a trap

And it’s so easy to get caught in it

Because quick knowing is the whole appeal

Even when it’s wrong

When I call AI out on its errors

It does the same thing fear does

“Yep. You’re right. No excuse. I won’t do it again.”

And absolutely does it again.

Talk about predictive modeling.

I can’t erase AI from the cultural zeitgeist

Any more than I can erase fear from my thinking mind

I can, however, not let them go unquestioned

And my frustrations with AI are just making explicit and obvious

The series of predictive jumps and ridiculous confidence fear has been conjuring all along

Sure, not knowing is uncomfortable

But life is a dance with discovery

The nuance and specificity of this encounter

What this moment is both asking and offering

Fear and AI help me think I already know enough to stop paying attention

As if I can circumvent the discomfort of not knowing and feel safe

But billions of years on this planet

And it’s never been the same day twice

I want to meet today

Not a model I’ve anticipated, perfected and executed flawlessly

But a living possibility

Where inquiry, discovery and wonder

Aren’t things I need to resolve or protect myself from

But what I allow to shape me

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