Looking Backward to Gain a Perspective on Generative AI

Earlier this month, I decided to re-read some of the novels and story collections that meant a lot to me in my late teens, 20s and 30s.

This includes books by J. D. Salinger, Kurt Vonnegut, Truman Capote, Milan Kundera, Philip Roth, Dino Buzzati ... (I hope I get to them all!)

I want to see if the writers I admired back then still mean as much to me, and if their characters and prose still cause a jolt of neural excitement.

I’m also doing this is because, like many of you, I’m feeling overwhelmed by generative AI. And I've been longing for a simpler, or at least slower-paced time.

And I'm starving for sharp, stylish, witty and insightful writing. The kind that comes from brilliant minds. I need an antidote to all the dull and boring (human) copy, the how-to advice and barrage of AI slop.

Last week, I started with J. D. Salinger's, Franny and Zooey, two interrelated novellas about the youngest siblings in a fictional family, known for producing precocious offspring.

What were my 'second' first impressions?

The prose is still as refreshing, meaningful and dazzling as it was when I first picked it up. You may not agree, but that's the beauty of writing. Its gift is personal and has as much to do with the narrative as with the reader's state of mind.

1950s ... Meet 2025

Franny and Zooey is set in the mid 1950s, a very different world than the one we currently live in.

It was a more formally stratified society. People had fewer chances of venturing beyond their backgrounds and getting an education or white collar job. What we call knowledge work today.

When you did get hired, you had a job-for-life. You dutifully showed up at the appointed time and performed your tasks to support yourself and your family, raise kids and generally settle down. Whether you liked the work or not was of secondary importance.

Looking back, lots of roles that existed back then have long since faded away: including secretary, typist, gas jockey, elevator operator, milk man, door to door sales people, and so on.

So did so many small businesses that got overrun by corporate giants. It became a lot more difficult for people like my Dad, who had an independent fabric and drapery store, to compete.

Don't get me wrong, I'm not saying the past was idyllic. Far from it. I'm simply observing how many accepted norms were very different in the 'olden times'. Sometimes they were better, often they were worse.

Yet, when change happened, we learned to accept the uncertainty, adapted and eventually thrived. Mostly in ways we couldn't have imagined till after they occurred.

Human Resilience Kicks into High Gear

Human resilience is a powerful concept. The fact that, despite seemingly insurmountable barriers, we rise to the occasion and reach new heights.

That insight helped helped soften the gut punch I felt when I read an interview with Dario Amodei, CEO of AI company Anthropic. He said: "AI could wipe out half of all entry-level white-collar jobs — and spike unemployment to 10-20% in the next one to five years".

Of course, the reality of his statement is troubling on many levels.

But it's also a wake-up call. To use uncertainty as motivation to draw on your own imagination and creativity.

That doesn't mean you should ignore the new tech or treat it as a villain.

But don't make AI the superhero of productivity, either.

Sure, it can help people who can't write very well become better writers. It can do the same for design, research and music, too.

It also produces a lot of junk.

Don't let yourself get seduced by the speed of its response or fall prey to AI's authoritative tone. It's up to you to become the authority.

Adopt an attitude of curious skepticism. Approach generative AI tools with a child's mindset and play with them.

Have an in-depth conversation. Ask AI to critique your ideas. To challenge you. Then, challenge it back. Don't simply accept its response. Debate it. Take the time you need to reflect.

And for goodness sake, stop offloading all your thinking to AI.

Because what you bring to the table, and what AI lacks, is personality, lived experience and the excitement of true surprise.

Maybe the answer lies in the future. Or perhaps there's a lot of inspiration we can take from the past.

Back to 2025

Of course, you can always learn a few things in the present, too. Including some of the latest generative AI trends in this week's Digital Marketing Trends video.

It's a roundup of recent announcements including Google's Vision Match shopping that lets you describe an item and have AI create and find it online.

I also talk about new AI agents including Adobe's Concierge for customer service, Zoom's AI companion and a new multi-agent framework from Salesforce. The agents aren't coming ... they're here.

Check it out and let me know what you think.

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Well, it's time to stop waxing nostalgic and wrap up issue #124.

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Are you worried about the future of work and generative AI? Or are you feeling more optimistic? Please share any examples or cases in the comments below.

Looking ahead to next time!

Note: All the content in this post was written by a human—me and not Martin-bot.