AI is not the future, it's the present
Whether or not you're pro-AI or think it's a precursor to Skynet, the fact of the matter is that AI is here, and it's here now. Over the last few years AI has moved from a barely-known niche and has exploded in to the main stream. Once the preserve of men with beards who measure the date from Epoch time, AI is now everywhere.
AI is of course a term that is overly used, with every app, website and service claiming to use AI. Whilst technically it's true that a toaster could indeed feature AI, being able to judge when toast is ready doesn't really, in my view, mean the toaster is actually using AI.
"Real" AI, interacting with LLM's either directly or indirectly through an app layer, is what I'm referring to when I use the term AI. And it's most definitely not the future, it's the now. I long ago stopped using search engines when looking for information online, moving from the cosy confines of DuckDuckGo to the new and exciting worlds of OpenAI and Claude. True two way conversations, refining results and drilling down to the information I actually need, without needing to click through to a dozen suggested websites returned by DDG streamlined my workflow a fair amount. Yes, a few years back one had to exercise a lot of caution when using AI as the information returned was, at times, lacking, if not completely fabricated. As time has moved on this has become less true, although it's important not to get complacent - a sanity check of information that doesn't quite sound right is always a good idea (they don't make t-shirts with the Claude logo and "You're absolutely right" on them for now reason) but generally results now are much better.
Part of this is down to a massive improvement in models, with larger and more complex models being released by a multitude of AI companies every other week, and the models now having access to the Internet, skills, MCPs and many other technologies that will be discussed in future posts all helping.
Agentic AI in particular is something I'm excited by and have started using, and I'll be posting about it soon.
The big question now of course is, is AI actually a good thing? Does it provide a benefit to users, or is it simply enabling a slew of AI-generated slop and preventing critical and creative thinking? Whilst that will need to wait for another post, it's definitely something worth keeping in mind as we embrace (or reject) the present.
