Chatbots are not the end, they are only the beginning

Chatbots are not the end, they are only the beginning.

And we're only at the beginning of the beginning.

I've been saying this for a while, but it's still true today. 

Paradoxically, we are both at the beginning of the beginning and simultaneously extremely far down the road. Here's what I mean by that...

𝗧𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗼𝗳 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗕𝗲𝗴𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴
While we're talking about creating ethical LLMs, AI agents are already commandeering our mouse and screen to make purchases and take real-world actions on our behalf. And we're on the precipice of the browser as we know it going away. Your personal AI will eventually be the interface of everything the internet offers (and even the internet itself is morphing under the weight of artificial content). Plus you can now pre-order a humanoid robot for your home for twenty grand. Chatbots are not the end, they are only the beginning.

𝗘𝘅𝘁𝗿𝗲𝗺𝗲𝗹𝘆 𝗙𝗮𝗿 𝗗𝗼𝘄𝗻 𝘁𝗵𝗲 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱
Think about how AI is already seamlessly interwoven into most platforms. You can't even Google something without the initial response being an "AI overview". Snapchat (900 million monthly users, primarily younger) has a "My AI" thread automatically pinned inside user's accounts. Chatbot and companion-related spirals and harms are happening more often than reach headlines. AI is integrated practically everywhere you look. We're extremely far down the road at the beginning of the beginning.

This is why we need to raise our capacity for holding ambivalence and paradoxical thinking. We're going to need it.