AI is like AC.1 This is not a hot2 take, but a reformulation of an idea you’ve likely seen many times already.
The internet is awash with blogs, podcasts, and videos on the costs and benefits of using or not using AI. Recently, vibe coding has been the hot new thing. We’re now seeing stories of engineers lamenting the atrophy of their coding abilities as they’ve offloaded the responsibilities of writing code to their LLM of choice.
As LLM tools proliferate, there are more and more opportunities for us to delegate work to AI. They can take meeting notes, summarize a document, and format your unstructured ideas to share with others. I think this is all pretty cool and can make our lives a lot easier.
Over 100 years ago, Willis Carrier built what is now considered to be the first electrical air conditioning unit. You are likely experiencing the benefits of an HVAC system at this moment. AC is taken as a given in any modern house. Because of this, houses stopped needing to use passive cooling and heating techniques. You probably won’t notice this until the power goes out in the middle of the summer and it’s 90 degrees3 in your home.
AI is like AC. We’re in the early stages of it but if we build our apps, systems, and workflows to rely on AI, what happens when the power goes out?