I'd like to talk a bit about the proverbial Elephant in the room.    

Yes, I'm referring to AI. 

Before I go into this rather long blog post, I want you to take a moment of self analysis. Because the truth is, everyone has a set idea of what AI is or isn't, and how they feel. What does that term mean to you? Are you instantly repulsed? And why? 

I think one the biggest problem with AI right now is that everyone's so bombarded with misinformation or social media hate that no one's taking the time to analyze how they really feel. I'm not going to try and convince you AI is bad or good, I'm just going to ask the reader to think about things more analytically. 

I'm also going to share what I believe every author needs, an active AI Ethics Policy. There's so much to parse, and the subject evolves every day. So, let's break things down. 

1. We've been here before
History loves patterns and repetition. It might feel like the current era is completely new, and in many ways it is. But in other ways it isn't. There was once a group of oligarchs and inventors who wanted to change the world. They disrupted labor markets, creating a product they insisted everyone would need. They did greater harm to the environment than any innovation previously, literally reshaping the entire globe to match their vision.

I'm not talking AI... I'm talking about the automobile. 

I'm certainly not the first to draw this analogy. It was highlighted in this TIME article from 2024 for instance. And beyond the obvious impacts on jobs and environment, the way we view automobiles today would baffle anyone and everyone living at the emergence of the industry. I live in Malta, the second-most automobile congested country on Earth. This small rock in the Mediterranean is particularly prone to the effects of Climate Change. We have no freshwater, and the island's slowly eroding into the ocean. And yet, there are so many cars here that to move a kilometer or two in any direction often involves being stuck for very long times in traffic. Beyond the traffic, in every country automobile accidents rank as one of the biggest causes of death every year. The fossil fuel industry needed to put petrol in our cars is enough to mire the world in endless wars (Iran, anyone?) and yet... no one's even conceiving of life without cars. 

There have been other massive shifts that have been equally frightening and globe changing. The emergence of the internet, for instance. 

And yes, there's no guarantee that AI will be the game-changing technology that cars were (remember the failure of the Meta-verse?). That said, it certainly could be. 

2. It's not AI
Ok, now you're confused. What do you mean it's not AI? 

You can argue that artificial intelligence is the goal. And yes, there's been a very real behind-the-scenes arms race to develop Artificial Intelligence weapons and an even more impactful data and Tech Race where big companies are sprinting to be the first to develop the newest, fanciest AI. Trillions of dollars are at stake. The big tech companies are all, at this very moment, swimming in trillions of dollars worth of debt all with the hope that they'll emerge from this race in a more profitable place. Capitalism unfettered is not pretty. 

But... let's pause a moment.

These companies could have called this emerging technology anything. They could've called it Bob. Instead they chose to call it AI, as part of a marketing push, or maybe they hope it will get to what we've called AI for generations. Because let's face it- for the past 75 years, we've known AI was coming. It's the literal villain in countless science fiction stories, from the reason the galaxy's reshaped in Herbert's Dune to the cause of countless robot uprisings from Asimov. Skynet and the Matrix and countless other AI villains have always been there for us to hate. So in comes this new big tech product... and no, it's not alive. It's not sentient. Maybe someday it will be, but no it's not yet. "I'm sorry Dave, you can't quite do that yet."
​

​This new fancy new technical product didn't have to be evil. I'm reminded of Star Trek's "Data," the ultimate good AI. Arguably, one of the few truly good AIs in popular culture. Data is an android who wants to be more human. And he always does his best to help people. An outgrowth of the Azimov-style robots meant to help humanity, Data is one of the core heroes of the show, yet even then, he's never referred to as AI. He's a sentient android. Hope isn't packaged as AI... evil is. 

So, how does AI work? Well it is an exceptionally complex mathematical process that involves predicting. It has a ton of data at its disposal (no pun intended) and uses that data to guess what you want to hear. That's the core. It guesses the answer that comes next, and those guesses are very accurate, because it uses deductive reasoning and pretty fancy extrapolative methods to narrow the choices (not just in broad context, but literally down to the next character you want to see next in a word). What's revolutionary about AI? It can and needs to​ learn. It is not inherently good or bad. And it is evolving. So yes, maybe we're on the cusp of truly becoming the sci-fi AI. Or maybe on the cusp of something entirely different. But it's worth noting that most of us heard the term AI, a term that was the villain for the past 75 years... and didn't bother questioning this as a bad idea...

3. The Worst Roll-out Possible

​When there's a new product, it's typically tested and analyzed and then shown as something desirable. When Henry Ford introduced his Model T, it was a revolutionary way to leave horses behind and get from point A to B in a swift, easy manner. And his product (thanks to the assembly line) was affordable to the upper and middle classes, his market. Eventually, owning a horse became far more costly than owning an auto. It took time, and a lot of excitement around cars. 

One of my pen pals when I was a kid suggested messaging on a new medium called email. It was a strange idea. A "letter" that required no postage and would arrive instantly. I remember how strange an idea it seemed. Now, physical mail is practically obsolete to many.  Emails were cheaper, faster, and easier. The internet was a space for email, for fun, for knowledge. Instead of shuffling down to the encyclopedias in the basement, we could use the internet to find answers. The world was shifting, and the products made sense...

But then there's AI. 

AI, in its current form, has been in development for just under a decade, ever since the transformer architecture that allowed machines to repurpose and understand data in new ways. The LLMs emerged, and eventually moved into public facing spheres like OpenAI's ChatGpt. At first this was a novelty, but as the tech giants started dumping all of their resources into AI, suddenly AI wasn't a choice. There was no flashier version people could use or not use... AI was everywhere. Embedded into every social media post, controlling how you interacted with the internet, manually forced into almost every existing tech product in a few short years. There has never been such a top-down rollout of a product in history. 

And there's zero focus on ways AI can help. Yes... AI can (and should) be used to benefit people. Practically no attention there. Where's the focus? On slop. 

It's a real term, and it's accurate.

AI, because it can generate based on prediction, can easily make garbage. Trump posting AI garbage on a near-daily basis doesn't help AI look any better. If you're an average consumer who uses the internet, and now you're forced to use a new product, which has the name of the villain from 75 years of sci fi, and makes garbage... well, of course you're going to hate it!

[Continued in Part Two...]

We spent a lovely week in Switzerland. This, in many respects, is a realization of a big dream for us. Because, as exciting as it was to move to Malta, the idea of combining work and travel, hadn't fully come to be, until now. 

While Rachel attended the AI For Good World Conference in Geneva, I took the kids and we explored. This workcation was a perfect blend of worldschooling and adventure and digital nomad life in action. We had a wonderful time in Zurich, Lausanne, and Geneva. We saw so much, from the Lindt Chocolate Museum to the largest aquarium in Europe, John Calvin's church (Reformation- yay), the birthplace of the modern Olympics, and even the world's largest  bench.

Every time we passed or saw stunning mountain vistas, my jaw dropped. I love mountains. They fill me with excitement and inspiration. But on one train ride, I noticed no one else was looking out the window. How could you not marvel at this beauty? Are we so in need of constant phone time that the beauty of nature seems mundane? 

I hope I never stop feeling inspired. And it was that inspiration and sense of wonder that really helped lead to the development of The Builder's World. I was reading Starkeeper to the kids during this trip, again immersed in a world of wonder and inspiration. And I can't wait to share it with you.

All three books are available for preorder now!