What are you optimising your life for?
I've been planning to write an article on this topic for a while, but I've been postponing it for some reason or other. But now that ChatGPT, a new revolutionary AI-based chat assistant, is around, I've asked it to write an article on the same topic. I'm super impressed with the text it has generated. Out of curiosity, I hit "Try Again" a few more times, and it showed me a different text each time.
Now, I don’t want to fill the rest of the article with the content that ChatGPT generated. Still, now that other AI-based tools, such as GitHub Copilot, MidJourney etc., are a reality, I believe it is more crucial than before to question what makes us genuinely fulfilling and work towards it. This is because we live in a world where we are not only trying (consciously or otherwise) to compete with others but also need to compete with these new generations of tools. Accept it or not, with the advent of these AI-based tools, we either have to learn to live with them, i.e., write/create better than them / learn to make the best use of them or choose a different line of work.
When pondering this question, what am I truly optimising for? I came up with different answers, such as well-being, personal growth and development, social/community impact etc. The common denominator of all of them for me is learning, which is a lifelong process. Learning how to improve health and wellness, grow in life or positively impact this world. Now, if I make learning the central theme of my life, I don’t consider these AI-based tools an existential crisis. These tools can help me offload non-creative/routine work, and I consider ChatGPT to be the evolution of Google. I’d use it to synthesise content from multiple sources and don’t mind paying for the service!
You might have figured out by now that this article is neither a review of ChatGPT nor a blog post on the said topic. However, the point I’m making is it is only a matter of time before AI-based tools are a new norm, and the sooner we accept this, the better. One can see them as a threat, and another can use them as an assistant and use them better. How you perceive and align this new reality with your value system decides how you cope. However, you may be lost if you don’t know what you want and answering a few questions may help you to get a direction. There may be different questions to ask yourself, such as your life mission, vision, etc., but they make us feel like we came to this world with a God-given purpose. So, I thought a better question to ask ourselves is, what are you trying to optimise your life for, which I believe drives our daily habits, thought patterns and decisions.
While answering this question, you may come up with different answers, such as financial stability, a successful career, meaningful relationships etc., but my suggestion is to find a common denominator and go for it. If you need more advice on this subject, don’t hesitate to ask ChatGPT while it is still free :)
