Let us agree from the outset that the tools offered by artificial intelligence are so numerous and so useful that anyone who knows how to use them properly genuinely makes life easier for themselves. As with any tool, however, there are good users and bad users. The same applies to the much-discussed AI, which is on the verge of becoming a scourge in a society where media literacy has already hit rock bottom.
At the same time, there is a difference between using artificial intelligence to help or facilitate your work and using artificial intelligence to do somebody else's work on your behalf. To put it simply before getting to the point, it is one thing for a journalist to use an AI tool to transcribe an interview and quite another to use the same tool to write an opinion article. Worse still is the case of someone who can barely write their own name suddenly becoming an authority on every subject imaginable on social media thanks to AI.
It has become extremely irritating that artificial intelligence and its tools have turned into a constant obsession for some people, almost to the point of addiction. You try to have a political discussion and there is always a know-it-all who, after asking ChatGPT, suddenly knows everything. You try to discuss a medical issue with a specialist and there is always someone who asked Gemini and now knows better than the doctor examining you in person. You try to talk about the Cyprus problem and the implications of a possible solution, and someone asks Siri whether it should be solved or not, then insists on repeating Siri's answer as if it were holy scripture and unquestionable authority.
You try to retune the television channels after those responsible have made a complete mess of things, and there is always the same person who copy-pastes an explanation from Claude about what DVB-T2 is, without actually solving the problem.
The latest fashion is that the AI professors have now discovered urban planning and architectural designs. They ask an algorithm where 10,000 homes can be built in Cyprus, how much they will cost and how long they will take. First they present the results in an infographic and then, with two clicks, the design is ready too. What do we need engineers, architects, electricians and so many other professionals for when the “AI expert” has already done everything?
In the same way, another group of AI professors in Limassol are preparing to solve the traffic problem. They place roundabouts in the sky, underground and elevated bridges, tram lanes, bus lanes, cycle paths and anything else that may be needed. The latest addition to Limassol's AI project portfolio is multi-storey car parks, above and below ground, near the sea, underneath houses and just about everywhere else. According to the AI experts, they can be built anywhere, they can be green, environmentally friendly and generate huge profits for the owner, namely the municipality.
Let me make one thing clear. I am not questioning the proposed solutions, many of which are often simply a matter of common sense. What is deeply problematic is the belief that the work of an architect, a civil engineer, a journalist, a historian, a technology specialist or anyone else can be reduced to a three-minute conversation with ChatGPT.
A little more seriousness is needed if we are to discuss real issues and realistic solutions, rather than conversations made of hot air and algorithms.
AI is undoubtedly making waves today and the future almost certainly lies there. But before it abolishes professionals of every kind, we still have a long way to go.
