Sure, the models will improve – more compute, better reasoning, fewer hallucinations, slicker hardware integrations. But I started to wonder today if perhaps I'd grow to miss this particular era of AI.
It began with a walk in the park. I realized I needed to book an appointment, but I didn't know what facility I should book at. A Google Maps search found the information I needed buried in reviews or scattered across company websites.
Tired of staring at my phone, I instead asked ChatGPT Deep Research for a recommendation. As it began the research process for me, I patiently slid my phone back in my pocket, happy for the excuse to return my attention to the beautiful surroundings.
I had no expectations of immediacy. And felt no entitlement to it. I knew it was working for me in the background, and I'd check its reply when I got home.
Perhaps a bit like phoning a friend in the landline days. If they didn't pick up, you knew they were probably out. Landlines predated the expectation that we could reach anyone, at any time, no matter where they are in the world.
Or maybe it's more akin to the age of early internet, when Bulletin Board systems served as CRT-shaped windows into previously impossible dialogues with tight-knit global communities. The pre-social media era we all claim to yearn for.
When the early adopter delighted in new possibility, but the culture at large hadn’t yet morphed in response to the inevitable over-mining of that newfangled value.
Maybe this AI – the AI of right now – is the AI we’ll be nostalgic for in 10 years.
