Swedish author, journalist, and speaker Andreas Ekström has long been concerned about the impact of technology on human life.
In his 2022 book, The Tyranny of Convenience, Ekström explores the price society pays for the convenience of technology and asks whether it was right to sacrifice privacy for smart devices.
Ekström believes that AI will penetrate almost every corner of our daily lives and change our lives “in almost every way imaginable,” he says.
He pointed to three specific ways we can see this change unfolding.
3 ways AI is changing the human experience
1. Helps reduce the burden and automate routine tasks at work
First, he says, AI has the potential to “assist with everyday tasks” in a variety of jobs.
This may include writing reports, filling out contracts, analyzing data, etc. All of this will allow people to engage in more creative, human aspects of interaction that AI cannot.
For example, if salespeople are busy with hours of paperwork each week, “AI systems can free up that time for really good salespeople,” Ekstrom says.
2. Helps people write and understand texts
Ekström believes that AI could also change the way people communicate. Specifically, he says, it can change the way teens talk because “teens have anxiety.”
In the future, he predicts, teens may send text messages through AI before sending them to avoid mistakes or saying the wrong thing. It also runs the texts you receive through AI to make sure you understand what the other person wants to say.
As a result, texts may be more streamlined and have fewer text-specific sounds when sent. “I think personality gets sanded down,” he says.
“You’re literally having an AI do the talking between two insecure 14-year-olds,” he says.
To some extent, this is already happening, but not for the majority of young people. According to the nonprofit organization Common Sense Media, 18% of teens now use an AI companion to practice speaking.
3. Be more professional and help people improve their skills
Finally, AI is likely to become increasingly specialized.
Instead of a general-purpose AI bot, “it’s going to be a specific food AI,” Ekstrom says. “It’s going to be AI, especially in do-it-yourself projects around the house, like woodshops.”
Users may also be able to create their own step-by-step videos, he says.
“We predict that we will be cooking better food,” he says. “I predict that if you try to fix your house, you’ll end up building something better around it. If you try to do your own electrical work, I’d expect more people to get electrocuted.”
“What is gained in efficiency may be lost in learning.”
There may be downsides to the technology, Ekström says.
For example, he says, while some routine tasks at work may seem like monotonous work, they can be experiences that help you hone your skills and become better at your job.
When it comes to chatbots shaping the way kids talk in the future, it’s important that kids say the wrong thing to their friends. That way, he says, children will be able to say the right thing in the future.
After all, “what is gained in efficiency can be lost in learning,” he says.
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