I couldn't agree more. There is a last bastion of people who care to keep using their brains, but the majority prefers to just doze off.
I really cringe when I see all the great new AI stuff. So, with a push of a button, I can turn my gibberish into a formal letter. Great. But what if I actually went to school and learned to write those letters? Should I forget all of it by not using that skill, so next time my smartphone runs out of battery I can't crank one out because I have no idea how to do it without help? Seriously?
Maybe a bot who ties my shoes in the morning? And when it's in for repair, I go to work barefoot because I can't take care of the basics any longer?
I can't help but wonder where this will lead us as a society. We'll probably end up being a bunch of retards who don't know how to go pee without AI.
When I grew up, it was the time of the home computer. First a Commodore C64, then an Amiga. My first PC was a 386 SX 40. You had to figure everything out. No help. No shortcuts. No Google. But you learned how to solve problems. This is something that helps me to this very day. Back then, I thought young people would get ever smarter with computers and IT in general as they grow up with everything naturally.
Boy, was I in for a surprise. Working in IT, I encounter people from all walks of life, and young folks have literally no idea of even the simplest of things. Unless there's an app for that, they can't do it. They can't figure out anything mildly abstract on their own, everything needs to be spoon-fed. Some don't even have a computer because all they use is their smartphone. Put them in front of one, and they can't do the simplest of things. A lost generation.
And it's not just IT. Kids come right out of school and can't do simple math or use proper grammar. It'd be ok if it were me, since I've left school decades ago. But no, it's the ones who are currently going or have recently finished that can't type a straight sentence without 20 typos.
Sorry for the old man's rant, but one day these are the people who are gonna have to take care of me when I'm eventually out of my wits, and I know already it's not gonna be pretty.
![Sad :-(](./images/smilies/ak.gif)