Tag: Technology

I was talking with a friend the other day about rabbit holes and how we both like going down them. He asked what the last rabbit hole was that I went down. I knew because it was earlier that day. I saw an article about the possibility of the singularity arriving in 19 years. I’ve heard this term, but didn’t know what it meant, so I looked up the meaning, which brought to mind another question…how does quantum physics relate to the speed with which technology is being developed, and specifically quantum computing and quantum entanglement. Those were rabbit holes I’ve gone down before. 

But I noticed a change, and I don’t think it was simply because I didn’t have the time to read as many articles on this day because my work load has increased 10 fold in recent months.

When I was in high school, doing research for a paper, I searched for information in books, at the library, in encyclopedias, in newspapers. I had to wade through so many resources, and work to find the right ones to get a fraction of the information I needed to complete my paper. 

When I was in college, we got the internet. The World Wide Web was this magical place where all that information was easily accessible. It was at our fingertips, just sitting there at the computer. All I needed was to be connected to the internet. I had my choice of search engines like Excite, Yahoo, GeoCities, AskJeeves, and I had my favorites. I remember the moment I realized something had shifted though. I asked my sister a question and she asked if I had Googled it. This one site had become so ubiquitous, it was now a verb. How do you find an answer to anything at all? You Google it.

But this has shifted once again with AI now creating a summary at the top rather than a list of sites to visit to continue your search. This is followed by a number of videos by content creators. If I had asked the singularity questions a few years ago, I would have read the synopsis on 10 different sites, right-clicked on a handful to keep reading, and come up with 8 more questions to dig into from those. I would have soon had 23 new browser windows opened, waiting to be read. I’d find more terms I didn’t know the meaning to and ask how these new concepts related to other things. I would be exploring an entirely new web of information and making new connections. My rabbit hole might have taken days before I was satisfied, full of new, possibly useless knowledge, but often things that would later be helpful to know. I find that new knowledge and understanding is rarely a waste of time.

I ask my question of Google now; “What is the singularity?”, and I get a quick summary from AI. “Ask me anything”, it says, and I follow up with a couple questions. I read no articles, visit no other websites, explore no research papers, come up with no new questions. I was finished with my rabbit hole in less than 5 minutes.

We no longer have a search engine. We have an AI summary machine. I could scroll farther down for those other websites. I can still get to the information. But I didn’t, because I had work to get to. Next time I’ll be more intentional about chasing that rabbit.

I keep an illustration on the top of my to do list page at work. It’s a likeness of The Thinker by Rodan with a red power button  in place of the head. It’s such a clear image of what we’re doing, every time I hear someone say…”Just use AI”. I keep it there to remind me not to shut my brain off in these days when it’s so easy to do.