Is it Going to Kill Us? Can it Make Me Rich?

We need a different kind of curiosity about AI.

“[AI] is one of the most fascinating inventions in human history, and no one cares. No one asks, ‘What does this say about us?’ ‘It's like, is it going to kill us? And can it make me rich?’”

- Stephen Marche

Listen to my full conversation with renowned writer Stephen Marche, and read my reflection below.

There is a saying that pops up in parenting, leadership, mental health, and probably any other domain where we discuss emotional reactions:

“Get Curious, Not Furious”.

The “cute” little rhyme scheme is ironically infuriating, but I won’t dwell on that. I am thinking about this quote today because I see it reflected in how our industry is reacting to AI. We have a lot of “furious” and not a whole lot of “curious”.

The good news is we are not alone. The whole world seems to be furious instead of curious. The bad news is that even if furious isn't the right word for our industry's reaction, our reactions are driven mainly by fear or greed. And, even though it doesn’t rhyme as well, the solution to this fear and greed is still replacing this reaction with curiosity. Curiosity is what will allow us to move forward as AI changes our jobs.

First, it is natural that our first reaction to anything as life-changing as AI will be based on our core desire to protect ourselves. For some, this manifests as rejecting the new paradigm (fear) and for some it manifests as trying to exploit it at all costs (greed). The issue with these reactions is that they are polarizing and they don’t provide a path forward. And, in both reactions, we are being controlled by change much more than we are controlling it.

I realized this in my recent interview with the renowned writer Stephen Marche. Stephen said “[AI] is one of the most fascinating inventions in human history, and no one cares. No one asks, ‘What does this say about us?’ ‘It's like, is it going to kill us? And can it make me rich?’”

Instinct vs. Intellect

Stephen was pointing out that our reactions to AI are more instinctual than they are intellectual. Even though this new technology should make us reflect on the nature of intelligence, language, sentience, and humanity, we are reacting with our creature brains. We are either fleeing something that seems like a predator or pouncing on something that seems like prey.

This makes sense, but it lacks curiosity. It is a reaction, not an action. After he made me realize this, I began to think about the value of curiosity as an action we can take in this new environment.

The value of being curious about AI is that it gives us access to the reality of the changes it introduces. The future won't be the total annihilation of our profession, but we also can’t put this invention back in the box. The reality is that we need to learn to work with AI and adapt it to our needs. That can only be achieved once we become curious about how to do it.

This curiosity starts with questioning our own instinctual reactions. Are we reacting with greed or fear? Once we recognize what this initial reaction is, we can begin to question it. At the end of this article, I will attach 15 questions that can help us understand our reactions to AI and move from a place of reactivity to a place of proactivity.

This ability to move from reaction to action is the benefit of curiosity. Curiosity restores our agency, and agency is crucial at this moment. This is because our industry is people-focused; it is all about communicating. But, it has been a ripe space for technological innovation since the 1950s. So, surrendering our human agency to AI doesn’t do justice to our focus, but fully rejecting AI doesn’t line up with our technological legacy. Curiosity will allow us to continue both our mission and our legacy, and it will ultimately allow more translators to continue working. Fear and greed give up either our mission or our legacy, and they both ultimately lead to a step away from humans doing translation work.

That isn’t what any of us want.

The Bureau Works Approach

At Bureau Works we are staying curious about new technology while staying grounded in who it is for: Us. We recognize that there are versions of this new paradigm that warrant fear and that there are versions of it that present financial opportunity. Our goal is to control for both of these realities and optimize the space in between them. It is in between fear and greed that our industry will thrive, with space to make money using new technologies but also an intense focus on keeping humans at the center of that opportunity. Getting to this middle ground all starts with curiosity.

15 questions to help us be more curious 👇

1. What parts of my job CAN AI do without me?

2. What parts of my job CAN’T AI do without me?

3. In what ways can I use AI to work faster?

4. In what ways can’t I use AI to work faster?

5. In what ways can I use AI to be more accurate?

6. In what ways can’t I use AI to be more accurate?

7. How can AI help me make more money?

8. How is AI a threat to my income?

9. What am I willing to compromise on?

10. What am I not willing to compromise on?

11. What tools can I use to maximize these benefits and minimize these threats?

12. What skills can I learn to maximize these benefits and minimize these threats?

13. If I had to argue that “AI can translate” what would my arguments be?

14. If I had to argue that “AI can’t translate” what would my arguments be?

15. What can I do to help myself and others?

All of these questions have detailed answers. Any short and definitive answer can probably be expanded with a little more curiosity. It is in this curiosity that we will find the path forward.