I find it concerning that the discussion around AI suggests that “intelligence” is becoming widespread. For instance, a recent Bloomberg article, “AI Will Upend a Basic Assumption About How Companies Are Organized,” featured insights from Azeem Azhar:
As intelligence becomes cheaper and faster, the foundational belief that human insight is scarce and costly is increasingly challenged. Having access to multiple experts at any given moment shifts the way companies are structured, how we drive innovation, and how we approach learning and decision-making. The dilemma for both individuals and organizations is: What will you do when intelligence itself is readily available and virtually free?
Learn faster. Dig deeper. See farther.
Is it genuinely intelligence that is becoming widespread and nearly free? True human intelligence encompasses the ability to perceive what others see, learn what others have learned, and yet uncover something previously unseen. It also involves making sense of the unfamiliar without prior knowledge—essentially, reshaping the world. The AI developers exhibit this level of intelligence; however, their creations do not. As AI pioneer François Chollet stated, intelligence transcends simple task-specific skills. He emphasized, “unlimited priors or experience can yield systems with minimal generalization ability (or intelligence) that can perform well at many tasks.”
While I concur with Azeem that today’s AI, which has yet to reach true intelligence, is incredibly disruptive, it’s essential to ensure we are facing the correct questions.
I have many thoughts on the transformative changes the abundance of AI-driven expertise may bring, which I will explore later. What I wish to delve into now, however, is inspired by the astute advice from Jeff Bezos to ask what will not change. If it is not genuine intelligence but rather expertise that is being democratized, we must consider what aspects of intelligence remain unique and valuable.
I propose that one significant answer lies in human creativity, values, and taste. Reflect on the PC revolution. In the era of mainframes, computers were scarce and prohibitively expensive. Suddenly, they became affordable and accessible. The aim was to have “a PC on every desk and in every home,” and eventually in every hand. Computers transitioned into a commodity. Figures like Bill Gates recognized that control of the software OS could generate monopoly profits, Andy Grove from Intel understood the importance of controlling a crucial hardware component in a commoditized market, while Michael Dell excelled at delivering standardized PCs efficiently. Each adapted to the world’s evolution in their unique way.
However, it was only one of the early PC innovators who centered his company’s strategy on something that would not change: the human desire to differentiate oneself through the values reflected in personal choices. He knew that brands thrive in commodity markets when they mean something.
Art critic Dave Hickey articulated this beautifully in discussing General Motors’ ascent post-World War II. Harley Earl, its VP of styling, created a hierarchy from Chevrolet to Cadillac, consistently altering designs to make each new model an object of desire. As Hickey observed, the automobile evolved into an “art market,” where “products are marketed based on their significance, not just functionality.” Although Steve Jobs didn’t birth the iconic 1984 ad that challenged the PC (its brilliant creators were Steve Hayden, Brent Thomas, and Lee Clow at Chiat/Day, with direction by Ridley Scott), both the Mac and later the iPhone mirrored Steve’s distinctive blend of creativity, values, and taste.
No matter what changes AI ushers into our world, I believe that creativity, values, and taste will remain constants in human society and economies.
The abundance of expertise may serve as a superficial reward when it is built on consensus opinions, something LLMs excel at by their very nature. This became particularly evident to me when I explored a paper illustrating how, when tasked with designing a website, ChatGPT created one containing numerous dark patterns. Why? It turned out much of the code it was trained on featured those dark patterns. Unfortunately, neither ChatGPT nor the users prompting it discerned that the websites from which it learned had undergone a process of enshittification (to borrow Cory Doctorow’s clever term).
The essence of creative intelligence lies in the capacity to decide what is novel and surprising and to shape what truly matters to people, extending beyond just the arts to business and politics. Until AI experiences a paradigm shift and can autonomously determine its actions (i.e., we develop artificial volition alongside artificial intelligence), it will invariably be guided by human direction. As I articulated in WTF, AI is a formidable genie conforming to our requests, not necessarily aligning with our true desires. In every tale of genies, a common theme emerges: the challenge lies in crafting the appropriate wish. The skill of asking remains paramount. Thus, the future belongs to those wielding the intelligence and insight that AI itself lacks. As Steve Jobs famously stated (actually channeling Chiat/Day’s Craig Tanimoto), “Think different.”
Reflecting on our choices at O’Reilly, I emphasize that the experts featured on the O’Reilly platform offer far more than merely a catalog of knowledge and expertise. Through their publications, videos, and direct engagement with customers, they contribute unique values and perspectives.
As we develop our own AI-driven services, we are committed to leveraging not just the knowledge of our experts, but their values, alongside our own. We aim for our experts to not only guide you through processes; they enlighten you on how to execute them correctly. They don’t just impart their knowledge; they teach you how to think critically.
On May 8, O’Reilly Media will be hosting Coding with AI: The End of Software Development as We Know It—a live virtual tech conference showcasing how AI is enhancing developers’ capabilities, increasing productivity, and delivering tangible value to their organizations. If you’re actively involved in shaping the future of development practices and are interested in speaking at the event, we’d love to hear from you by March 12. Additional details and our call for presentations can be found here. If you’re just looking to attend, register for free here.