On ChatGPT, mistakes and humanity

I just moved to San Francisco. I'm two weeks in, and AI is everywhere. It's made me contemplate what the future of humanity could look like and how humans might evolve alongside these technologies.

But you know what? I had an interesting experience with my brother that probably tells you more about what this new world would look like and why I'm now more invested than ever in nurturing human relationships.

I needed to buy a monitor. My brother hates spending any more money than necessary. He's very clear about checking Facebook Marketplace before making a purchase firsthand. So he said, "Let me look for what's available on the marketplace before we buy new."

He found a listing for a Dell 2725QC—the exact model I wanted—for $150. He jumped on it, saying it was basically new and would save us a ton of money, basically a 50% discount on a new screen. So we made the trip all the way across town to pick it up.

Being the Indians we are, we went together. We also brought a spare monitor we wanted to test it on, to make sure everything worked properly. We met the seller, asked if we could quickly test it, and he let us into his apartment. We took off our shoes at the door.

That moment changed everything.

When he noticed we had removed our shoes, his expression completely shifted. He suddenly became so open and friendly. For us, taking shoes off is about respect. Back home, we do this because homes are sacred spaces, and the dirt from outside shouldn't come inside. But for him, it meant something profound: we were honoring his space.

We tested the monitor, chatted a bit, and went back home. After setting it up, we realized something was wrong. This wasn't the Dell 2725QC at all. It was two levels below in quality, something that wouldn't work for us. We only discovered this after plugging it in and noticing the display wasn't sharp as we expected.

The money was already spent, and I was frustrated. I couldn't understand why he would post the wrong model, charge that price, or how we made such a mistake. That's when my brother said, "Let's just call him and talk it out."

He called on speakerphone, and when the seller picked up, my brother asked what happened. The seller was honest: "This is an honest mistake."

He explained that he'd simply taken a picture, sent it to ChatGPT to identify the model, told ChatGPT his desired profit margin, and used the calculated price to create the listing.

"I just ask ChatGPT for things," he said. "I don't research anymore."

It was true. We do the same thing.

But then my brother and I had a deeper conversation. Because we're more technical, we went behind the monitor, checked the resolution and specs. If we hadn't done that, we would have relied on ChatGPT for the answer too. We might never have discovered the mistake.

Here's what struck us: it was through a conversation between two trustworthy humans that this conflict, originally created by an AI, was resolved.

Of course, ChatGPT disclaims that it can make mistakes, like all other AI tools. But as we grow more accustomed to these tools—and we already have—what happens then? I rely so heavily on these tools now to do comparisons, analyze data, and find answers that would otherwise take hours of research. What happens if they disappear? What happens if Google Maps goes away? It's how I discover the world now.

The question becomes urgent: as we outsource more of our thinking, analysis, and decision-making to these tools, what happens to our capacity to think critically?

If you were to write on a piece of paper, would your friend recognize your handwriting? Would you?

Perhaps it's always going to be our humanity that carries us forward. Not algorithms, not tools, but the essence of being human: our ability to connect, to reason, to be emotionally present, to think critically about the world and the problems we face.

Without this, I wonder, who would we be?

I see a lot of that humanity in poetry I find in the streets of San Francisco - this one is from a tram station next to Ferry Building.

I'm so grateful that both my brother and I were there, present, witnessing this story unfold. I'm grateful for it, truly. I also feel closer to everything that makes humans, humans, like this piece of poetry I found on the streets.

I wish you moments of love, kindness, and connection. And no matter where you go, I wish you always find humans who meet you with their hearts open.

With love, Rishi