“Technology is anything that wasn’t around when you were born.”

– Alan Kay

People are asking questions about AI from the Pyramid to Taiwan to TEG and cafes throughout Albania. Last week, I heard:

“A do të bëhemi të gjithë përtacë?”

“S’do të dimë më të shkruajmë një email?”
“A do të na pushtojnë robotët?!?”

People have doubts. Fears. Questions.

And theories.

My theory?

Even if robots start to take over the world…

Mira Murati will save us!!!

Images created with DALL-E

Joking aside, let’s pause.

AI isn’t some mysterious force—it’s simply the next step in a long history of technological evolution.

Like any other tool—from the hammer to the automobile to email—its value depends on how we use it.

Rather than viewing AI as a threat, consider it your assistant, capable of helping you work smarter and solve problems.

Albania’s Tech Transitions

Albania has experienced profound shifts in technology over the last few decades (along with the world). Think about farming—once dependent on manual labor, now supported by modern tools that save time and increase yield. Electronic tools are now used to test the quality of the ground before planting.

Is this old news?

I just heard about it in the fall from some innovative thinkers in the Ministry of Agriculture during a leadership development program.

Or consider the transition from landline phones to smartphones, connecting even the most remote villages to the world. AI represents a similar shift.

“If You Don’t Use It, You Lose It”

When I walked into a T-Mobile store in my hometown in the U.S a few years ago.

The employee asked, “Where are you from?”

“Cincinnati,” I said.

He replied, “Yeah, but where are you originally from?”

Without realizing it, my “American accent” had faded.

Technology’s Impact on Thinking

Calculators in London

A neighbor from Kosovo once told me about a London power outage. The electronic systems went down, and restaurant employees were forced to calculate bills manually. He was the only one who could do the math with pen and paper!

From Gma to Gmail

My Gma (grandma) never published a book, but she wrote enough letters to publish volumes! My mom writes but less often. I used to write letters all the time. But with the arrival of Gmail, I write less often. Honesty, it’s just harder for me to write legibly with pen and paper than 20 years ago.

Without balance and boundaries, AI will impact us.

Over time, “if you don’t use it, you lose it.”

Will AI Make Us Stop Thinking?

• Do we become less effective at writing letters the more we write emails? Yes.
• Do we struggle to navigate roads the more we rely on GPS? Yes.
• Will you become less effective at summarizing reports? If you don’t use it, you lose it.

But it doesn’t have to be a zero-sum game!

It is possible that you spend less time summarizing and more time on higher-level thinking tasks such as applying, evaluating, and synthesizing.

Treat AI as a Tool, Not a Threat

Is it helpful to consider Artificial Intelligence is the next step in innovation?

Similar to computers in the past?

AI’s Early Days

Like other tools, AI can present challenges but also open doors.

If you’ve seen the movie “Imitation Game,” you know that Alan Turing was a Mathematician who decoded Nazi messages during WWII. He and his team built the prototypes of what we today call the modern computer.

Alan Turing once said:

“One day, ladies will take their computers for walks in the park and tell each other, ‘My little computer said such a funny thing this morning.'”

He saw that computers were tools—not threats.

Courage to Adapt

We must face the future with fortitude—otherwise known as “courage with an F.”

Think back to when computers first entered offices. Some feared job losses, but people adapted. The same is true for AI. The key to adapt? Upskilling.

For those of you who spend much of your day in front of computers, a few small steps can make a difference. Imagine:

• Spending 10 minutes instead of 10 hours to design a PowerPoint
• An Excel sheet corrected in seconds
• 24/7 access to an expert in data analysis

Final Thought

AI is here, and it’s not going anywhere. How we use it is up to us.

Acknowledgments: I’m grateful to Paul Johnson and Paul Lofquist for reviewing earlier drafts, and I’m grateful for the assistance of my ChatGPT Assistant in writing it.