One thing I am getting really tired of is the hype around AI and the seemingly endless push to have technology invade every aspect of the human life. It’s actually becoming a detriment in many ways.

Now let me get one thing straight. I love technology and I think it’s amazing how we can use it as a tool for efficiency, managing our lives, getting information, building businesses and much more. Technology and innovation is saving, extending and bettering lives and has really changed our world for good but as with any tool, it can be turned into a weapon.

This is where I have a problem

People are more connected than ever before, yet more disconnected from the human experience. Just take a look at people staring at their screens and phones all day. Outside there are wonderful blue skies, fresh air and sun, so many people are hunched over looking at pixels, and controlled by algorithms while ignoring the beauty around them.
Investors of all types throw money at AI and technology to eliminate the need for humans to do many tasks. Sure, it is great to increase efficiencies but where is the point where these solutions eliminate the need for people at such a mass scale that people lose the joys of simple things in life?
The constant push for more and more digitization is opposite of what the human experience is all about. Life is about people, interacting, connecting in person and communicating. Technology has created a fake online world with people who have lost the real art of communication. They hide behind a profile, blurt out 140 characters and some emojis. Is that who we are? AI is controlling more and more of our interactions and most of us don’t even realize it.
Hate, anger and vitriol. The world of social media has devolved, divided and created a sense of anxiety in so many people. While is can be used for good, in many cases it used for the opposite. We are better than this.

So what is the answer?

I don’t have it all, but I have some thoughts.

Get outside, walk, enjoy nature, breathe and put the phone down.
Talk to people in person, face to face and be kind. Give people real attention not divided attention
Be understanding, forgiving and kind to others. People make mistakes. We are human.
Find ways to harken back to simpler things. Write on paper, read a real book, go analog and come back to simplicity

Taking a break and doing these things can reduce the constant anxiety, stress and pressure the technology had imprisoned us with. Don’t let our moods, emotions and decisions be ruled by AI or a computer. Once you break free, you just might never want to go back.