How smart are you about how you and your family use smart devices?
Have you experienced any of these all-too-common situations?
AI and Gaming
You’ve allowed your son 60 minutes for playing a video game, but you discover later that he’s back on it. You are disappointed in his behavior, but what you don’t understand is that the game’s algorithm is designed to keep him hooked. With every new level he unlocks, the AI subtly adjusts the difficulty and rewards, triggering dopamine bursts that make it hard for him to put the game down. In fact, the AI-driven game is designed to keep him engaged–even at the cost of his mental and emotional health.
AI and Social Media
Your daughter is scrolling through her social media feed, curious about how other teens manage to look so good and have so much money to spend. What she doesn’t realize is that an AI algorithm will continue to suggest content based on her previous interactions. Because it’s constantly feeding her more of what has momentarily grabbed her attention, her exposure to diverse perspectives dwindles. She begins to internalize the values of the content she sees, believing that beauty and wealth are the keys to happiness. She doesn’t realize that her worldview is being shaped by an AI algorithm that prioritizes engagement, not values. Her parents wonder why she’s suddenly more concerned with appearances and money, unaware that her AI-curated social media feed is influencing her decision-making and moral compass.
AI and Schoolwork
Your son has been assigned math problems to prepare for a test, but instead of working through the practice problems, he’s asking Siri for the answers. Since he is confident he’ll do well on the test, he decides Siri is a helpful shortcut. However, when the test day arrives and Siri isn’t there to help, he realizes he hasn’t actually learned how to solve the problems himself. As the test paper stares back at him, he panics—he’s become so reliant on AI’s quick answers that he never really learned to think through the steps on his own.
AI and Privacy Risks
Your family is laughing, playing games, and using the family’s smart speaker to ask it funny questions as well as play music. Unbeknownst to you, the smart speaker’s AI is listening to all of your conversations, not just when you say, “Hey, Alexa.” A few days later, you notice personalized ads on your devices promoting toys, clothes, and even apps that sound eerily similar to what you’ve been saying in the privacy of your home. Your smart speaker has been recording more than just commands—it’s been collecting data.
Is It Time to Learn More About AI?
If you’re weren’t concerned about what’s happening to us through the use of generative artificial intelligence, I hope you are now.
Although AI brings many benefits, its risks are enormous, if left unchecked and unregulated.
Therefore, I’m on a mission to make sure you are prepared not just to survive but also to thrive in this new era, and my just-released book, Who Generated My Cheese?: What You Must Do Now to Survive and Thrive in an AI World—A Full-Color Illustrated Primer, will point you in the right direction. I hope you’ll check it out on Amazon, where it’s available as paperback or on the Kindle–and is a free download on Amazon for three days this month, September 24-26.
Who Generated My Cheese?
Twenty-six years ago we were worried about someone moving our cheese. Today, not only has someone moved the cheese, but we don’t even know if the cheese is real or not. In fact, generative artificial intelligence challenges us to rethink what it means to be human in an age when machines can learn, analyze, and adapt.
Who Generated My Cheese? is an engaging, thought-provoking read that explores eight disruptions of generative artificial intelligence that, if left unchecked, threaten our very humanity. But it doesn’t stop there—it also provides actionable strategies and frameworks that offer you a successful path to living and learning in an AI-driven world.
Through humor, personal stories, full-color illustrations, and my expertise as a multi-national award-winning educator and expert in integrating technology into education, I’ll steer you through both the challenges and amazing opportunities created by AI.