The lazy human: why we invented AI!!

 We stand at a critical juncture in human history, facing a new invention that promises to redefine effort itself: Artificial Intelligence. But to truly understand AI's massive impact, we must first look at the driving force behind all human innovation.

I recently read a fascinating theory: at our core, humans are fundamentally lazy. We don't innovate purely to be more productive; we innovate to reduce effort and find the path of least resistance. Why write a long letter when we can send a text? Why manually process data when we can automate the task? We automate to be lazy, to free up our mental energy for... what, exactly?

This powerful, deep-seated urge to reduce effort is what ultimately demanded the creation of AI.

Now, our lazy inventors have given us the tool to speed up everything that requires effort: drafting office minutes, scheduling complex tasks, and even writing entire books. Our collective imagination, coupled with the desire for maximum automation, has brought AI into the mainstream. Wow, the ultimate demand of our laziness has been met.

But as with every powerful invention, there are repercussions. My own experience taught me this lesson years ago.

In 2010, while going through a tough personal phase, I received an anonymous, cruel email full of painful accusations.that still rings in my ear. In the same year a different unknown sender used digital tools to gently edit my profile picture, adding a rose and wishing me well. Even though I don't know who did it, I kept that picture and used the same as my profile picture a year later. 

Today, the stakes are exponentially higher. AI can be—and is being—used to harm others by creating hyper-realistic fake videos and convincing deep-fake images. The digital malice I faced years ago is now turbo-charged by accessible technology.

This leads to the most urgent question of our time: How do we teach the next generation to use these powerful, effortless technologies not to harm, but to help?

We've taught people not to use fire to burn down a forest. We must now teach them not to use AI to burn down a reputation. Can this intelligent tool—born from our collective laziness—somehow be leveraged to teach us the ethics and effort required to protect each other?