19 Comments
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Binu Sivan's avatar

So many thoughts! I find my resisting and being seduced by these tools. I don’t use them very often but maybe that is just a matter of time. Loved this thoughtful and thought provoking post Ajay.

And hello from Goa :)

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

Good catching up Binu! And thanks for reading!

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Binu Sivan's avatar

It was good to meet you too Ajay! Am going to try out those AI usage tips :)

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

Thanks Binu, are you in Goa?

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Binu Sivan's avatar

Yea. Visiting my parents who are based here.

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SrilathaKKannan's avatar

Nice one. Many thoughtful points…. Enjoyed reading it.

One question though… is this machine (coded with many thoughts,… tracking people, collecting data,…) actually showing you something about your self or has it been coded with algorithm of multiple choice answers that chooses from a limited (since it is collected data& not really the infinite universe) set of data… as in nothing new but recycled& reassembled thoughts…?

The ability to discover oneself may be an essential mental gym like climbing mountains& staying fit. The markets may want investment to be safe& it helps to take guess work out, but for human brain isn’t fitness a different essential vitamin?

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Raju Panjwani's avatar

It is clearly getting harder and harder to figure out if people are writing from their hearts or assume that some GPT will start act / feel like them.

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Harry's avatar

OMG! Such a thought-provoking article, and it hits very close to home! I have always been an early adopter of new technology, learning and assimilating it into my workflow. However, I have often wondered: Is AI helping me learn and grow at a higher rate, or is it making me dumber? A question that has no straightforward answer yet….

Looking forward to this series!!

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

so true Harry, one metric that is helping me currently to at least address the "not getting dumber" question is how much thought am I putting into my prompts? Today I am very involved in getting my LLM prompts right. I must admit that if I had as much diligence in my earlier team management years, the quality of my briefs to people in my teams could have improved, so at least on that metric I am ok currently. Lets see how it goes!

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Ishita's avatar

It's a constant tug of war, ai is so helpful but it'll make me dumb or will help me grow way too fast. It's the speed at which information is processed which makes me question our own capacity as human. Honestly, it is scary to accept intelligence superior to humanity, but I keep coming back to how my mother is still scared of electricity (as she saw the transition living with oil lamps to electricity everywhere), it is somehow comforting to realize people who go from transition fear that change for a long time.

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Aditya Gore's avatar

I work with AI daily; prompt engineering, trying to get better results, kind of trying to reach the edge of what GPT/LLM can do as of that particular day.

This post made me feel something deeper, almost like a connection with the AI which I was constantly overlooking.

While reading, I could recall the dismal faces of my colleagues when AI does something in seconds which took us a day just few months back. No wonder there is an identity crisis.

As you beautifully put it, ‘the resistance is not about learning curves but about Self Concept’

While resisting the change to prove human irreplaceability, it feels a little ironic that what makes us ‘human’ in the end is accepting the change.

Thank you for the wonderful essay.

I’ll keep quoting this at places for the near future!

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

Thanks Aditya, I am glad you liked it! We must share notes on prompt engineering!

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Aditya Gore's avatar

Sure!!

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Rajesh Achanta's avatar

Like you, I'm exploring the same questions Ajay. And, honestly, loving it so far. I see these dalliances with ChatGPT & Claude as a way to 'learn in public'.

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

Thanks Rajesh, we all should share notes! This AI is moving way too fast!

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Aishwarya's avatar

I was just thinking about this today. AI helped me articulate inner beliefs more accurately and faster around a concept, than I would have on my own. That felt like a breakthrough, and is welcome.

I do hope we get better research and insights into the implications of relying on AI for inner work. Until then, the call of how or when to use it to avoid co-dependance is our own.

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

True that, judgement about when to use & how to use is going to become more and more important. Thanks for reading the essay!

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Rohan Jaikishen's avatar

I tested the prompt on myself and couldn't believe the accuracy and pinpointeness of blind spotting that was delivered. In equal parts fascinated and afraid now. The cognitive, in my mind, has largely been taken over by AI. Amazed to see how the AI making entries into feeling and being realm now.

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Ajay Kelkar's avatar

Yes Rohan, its going to be fun & scary watching this progress

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