I don’t usually seek out technology documentaries. In fact, I usually blow right past them in search of a good Jane Austen adaptation. But while I was scrolling through Netflix the other night, a visual that read “What is AI?” caught my eye.

Honestly, I’ve been blissfully burying my head in the sand on this topic, happy (for the most part) to live my life and pretend AI is not taking over the world (or threatening my job as a writer, hahahahahaha).

But since ignoring it is becoming more futile, I figured I should at least start trying to understand it better. So I hovered over the “What is AI?” graphic, and to my surprise, watched experts hesitate and struggle to answer that simple question. Hmm. Intrigued, I clicked and spent the next two hours absolutely riveted by Daniel Roher’s The AI Doc: Or How I Became an Apocaloptimist.

A disclaimer of sorts for the skeptics

Before I dive in here, let me address the folks who (maybe, probably) know more about AI than I do: I’m not a tech bro (tech sis?) by any stretch. I can barely figure out how to use Instagram. I don’t feel compelled to lionize or demonize any person or perspective when it comes to this stuff.

I’m just a girl, standing in front of a water-guzzling data center, asking what AI means for humanity’s future.

I’m also well aware this write-up will tick some people off. Why? Because we’re talking about confusion and fear over AI, and anger comes with the territory. All I ask is that people read the whole thing before tracking me down with pitchforks, please and thanks. Peace be with you all.

Now let’s get into it.

Yes, it’s terrifying…but hold that thought

Roher started making this documentary while his wife was pregnant with their first baby, and that oh-so-human reality runs through the entire film. “Am I bringing a child into a world where their future is doomed? “ is a question parents have asked in every age and every place where war, hunger, or other human atrocities loom large.

But in the age of AI, it’s a global question every prospective parent faces. If AI goes wrong, the entire world will experience........

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