Politics. football. And now, AI?
Artificial intelligence adds to the potential sources of Thanksgiving dinner arguments this year.
Uncle Larry might want to know if a robot comes to your job. Or your cousin Daniela is considering dumping her entire 401k into AI darling Nvidia. And is your little niece or nephew talking about their new best AI friend (don’t worry)? What is AI anyway?
The rise of AI as a topic of conversation is indicative of recent breakthroughs in technology. Although it’s been around for more than a decade, the rapid rise of chatbots and potentially billions of AI products has made this technology more prominent than ever.
If Larry and Daniella in your family talk to you about AI this year, here’s how they’ll respond.
It is true that there are still many things that AI cannot do. However, this technology can help organize and understand large datasets and documents. That means it can help you plan your vacation itinerary, summarize complex information, and even write code.
However, please be careful. AI apps may sound convincing and conversational; make mistakes. Be sure to double-check the facts and sources cited in your answers. Don’t enter sensitive or personal information into AI apps. If you use it for work, check your employer’s AI policy.
No, yes. perhaps?
Decades of concern that robots will take jobs away Growth in 2025 as AI advances, tech companies cut jobs and prominent industry figures say white-collar jobs are at risk.
Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said today’s CEOs will be the last to manage all-human employees. Verizon just laid off 13,000 employees, citing “changes in technology and the economy.” And entry-level computer scientists have a hard time finding work.
But the truth is not so clear. Experts seem to agree that AI is indeed changing our jobs, but not everyone believes it will completely replace job titles. Some say AI will create new types of roles, while others believe it will allow workers to focus on more things. The rewarding aspects of their work.
In short, no one knows. But this is a big problem for the stock market and, by extension, the health of the economy.
AI has been compared to the early days of the internet, but not necessarily in a positive way. Tech companies are investing billions of dollars in AI infrastructure, but critics question whether there will be enough demand to justify the spending.
Why investors are concerned about an AI bubble
Why investors are concerned about an AI bubble
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For example, consider Nvidia, a company developing chips within large AI data centers. Nvidia’s profits are typically a bellwether for AI demand, so the market breathed a sigh of relief when the company announced strong results last week. But that sentiment didn’t last long, and by the end of the week, the stock had fallen. Perhaps this indicates that no one, including deep-pocketed investors and dedicated analysts, knows exactly how long AI’s momentum will last or what will happen once it wears off.
Are you talking about a baby being chased by a dinosaur? Or maybe that one-eyed cat that popped up in your feed when you were looking for wallpaper ideas? Welcome to AI slop, AI-generated photos and videos that are poorly made, totally confusing, or just plain unnecessary. Why?
Advances in AI have exploded as tech giants incorporate it into their products, including social media.
If you want to impress your family in a tech-savvy way this year (and stop texting your mom and watch this video of the dog who supposedly learned how to talk…), try resetting your content settings on apps like Instagram and TikTok by following these steps.
Instagram
- Tap the menu icon on your profile.
- Under “What’s displayed,” tap “Content settings.”
- Tap Reset Recommended Content.
TikTok
- Tap the menu icon and select Settings & Privacy.
- Select “Content Settings” under “Content and Display”.
- Tap Refresh For You Feed.
So what about “vibe coding”?
Don’t know anything about coding? You don’t need to understand “vibe coding”. This refers to the act of entering plain English commands into an AI app to generate code.
“Vibecoding” trend added to Collins dictionary
Example: While writing this article, I asked ChatGPT to create a gluten-free recipe app to help you find dishes that can be made in 30 minutes or less. By the time I finished writing about vibe coding, I had finished writing the code.
Electricity rates are on the rise, and the average price of electricity is rising 13% from 2022 onwards. But is AI contributing to that rise? Yes, although it’s not the only factor. The cost of maintaining and updating the power grid is unrelated to AI, but plays a large role in determining the cost of electricity.
Power politics: electricity bills a top campaign issue
However, AI increases the demand for electricity, which affects prices, and this demand may also require further power upgrades. Data center to meet capacity. This trend is expected to continue, with an estimated 6.7% to 12% of U.S. electricity generated by data centers by 2028, up from 4.4% in 2023, according to a 2024 Department of Energy report.
That’s a good question. There are many things to measure. And the answer will likely depend on how children are using AI, what they’re using it for, and whether their use is supervised by parents or teachers. For example, some teachers see benefits to Students using AI for research and collaboration.
However, a series of alarming reports and lawsuits alleging that AI companion apps are contributing to self-harm and suicide among teens has raised safety concerns about the impact of AI on young people. In September, the Federal Trade Commission began investigating seven tech companies over these potential damages.
Of course, this is not the case for all child AI users. And in response to these reports, tech companies are launching new parental controls.
For example, OpenAI gives parents more control over how ChatGPT interacts with their children. Instagram will allow parents to block their children from chatting with AI characters on the platform. And Character.AI prevents teens from engaging in back-and-forth conversations with characters.
Apple and Google also offer tools to help parents manage app usage and set screen time limits.
There’s a lot we don’t know about AI, but this much is certain. This technology isn’t going away anytime soon. That said, we don’t know what future AI problems will be. Like the Internet itself, it is likely to grow and develop in unexpected ways.
So for now, why not just focus on making sure Uncle Larry doesn’t run out of pumpkin pie this year?
