I remember in the early 2000s when WebMD.com became popular. All of the sudden, every patient also became a “doctor”. The limitless information available on the internet was able to turn a sore throat into a catastrophic illness. The healthcare industry was suddenly going toe to toe with every armchair expert with the sniffles.
Now with the wide spread use of AI, I’ve got potential customers telling me what’s wrong with their water systems. The conversations I’ve had in the past few months have been equally entertaining and frustrating. The solutions that Gemini has been spitting out are pretty laughable, thankfully most of the time callers take that computer generated advice with a grain of salt. But not always.
With a few keystrokes a complete novice suddenly has all the answers. Like someone watching a crime show who knows how they would have done it, leaving no evidence or DNA behind. It’s a pretty similar comparison. Jewel thieves aren’t honing their skills on the couch and neither am I. It takes thousands of hours in basements, well pits, construction sites in every kind of weather, night and day to gain any real trade skills. To know in my mind’s eye what to do in any situation that is thrown my way.
As a bit of a red neck myself, I never really thought that I’d be fighting side by side with doctors over our hard won information. For the time being we’ve got the advantage over the internet, experience and nuance. Every application is different, every well is unique. The deployment of experience and gained knowledge is the biggest, sharpest tool in my bag. Chat GPT is only bringing a sledge hammer to do the same job.
I feel I may just be reliving the tale of John Henry against the steam engine, but for now I have the advantage. Before we have to bow down to our digital overlords, please consider the alternative to AI, Actual Intelligence.
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