Frank: You just described the M.O. of the Trump administration.
Bret: Well, yes. But back to A.I. for a moment — and, again, maybe it’s Pollyanna talking here — I’m actually something of an optimist about it. I think it’s going to make people think harder and deeper about what it means to be human, value it more and, in economic terms, extract more value from it.
Frank: From your lips to Sam Altman’s ears.
Bret: My premise comes from something a college professor of mine once remarked on more than 30 years ago. He said: “People don’t go to the Olympics to watch cheetahs race.” His point was that there will always be animals or machines that can do things faster or more efficiently than we can. But what really interests us, what we’re eager to pay for — at the Olympics or a chess tournament or some other endeavor — is human excellence. Sometimes that excellence can be assisted by machines, as in a Formula 1 race, or by animals, as at the Kentucky Derby, but it can’t be machine or animal excellence alone.
So while I think A.I. will be great at rapidly solving complex technical, scientific and medical problems in ways that can improve life, it won’t be able to replace the things that are specifically human: originality, effort, courage, endurance, imagination, emotion, compassion, forgiveness, soul. A.I. can’t swim the English Channel, or nurse a baby, or hold the hand of a dying parent. And it can’t write a Frank Bruni column, even if it might be able to write a very good imitation of one. Ultimately, people seek, and value, the real, the original, the unique, the authentic.
All this is because A.I. is made in the image of man, but man, if you’ll pardon the religious reference, is made in the image of God.
Frank: I’ll pardon it because you just threw me that big fat bone, apart from which your sentiments are truer than true and beautifully put. I agree with them. And when I locate and commune with my own inner Pollyanna, I think it’s possible that the various grave threats we’re confronting will prompt us to appreciate what’s being endangered more than we did before. Maybe the spread of A.I. nudges us back to intimacy. Maybe Trump’s monstrous ego and grotesque indulgences kindle a renewed regard for altruism and humility. Maybe our national shame on the international stage compels us to rediscover American ideals. To quote Joni Mitchell, you don’t know what you’ve got ’til it’s gone.
