“Dearly beloved. We are gathered here today to get through this thing called life.”
These ominous words from the late great artist Prince eerily captures the anxiety, confusion and uncertainty of society faces today.
Even though these lyrics were birthed in the 80s, some of the same socio-economic issues that plagued the previous generations have either multiplied or remain largely ignored by our government and municipalities, who are so quick to applaud their own projects on social media and advertise the idea that they’re “making a difference” with creating jobs and helping the poor in these impoverished communities.
The great irony that haunts our 30-year old democracy is the fact that our bleeding economy keeps spilling over despite how many times our president shuffles his cabinet or launches projects that promise to solve load shedding, corruption and create more jobs.
With raging wars in Ukraine and Gaza compounded with the fact that President Donald Trump’s decision to impose a 30% tax on South African exports, our pockets face another pinch with the rising price in goods and petrol.
In SA, crime, gender-based violence, homelessness and unemployment still haunt our youth who now have to adapt their career choices in the wake of Artificial Intelligence (Al).
Al’s sudden popularity has become inescapable with many companies now capitalising in its efficiency to streamline and propel their advertising in the hopes of maximising their profits by smothering the market.
Now more than ever our education departments, teachers and tertiary institutions have to swiftly find ways to incorporate this technology into their curriculums for fear of being overtaken by other countries making great strides in training the new generation with Al’s benefits.
However, what should remain an essential factor amidst our rush to understand and incorporate Al in our careers to help society, is our critical thinking, which is more crucial than ever in the fast-paced times we live in.
Today’s students have easier access and methods to plagiarise in their work and essays which are meant to express their unique opinions on important issues. This also makes the work of lecturers and tutors even harder when it comes to marking and identifying patterns of fraud with Chat GPT improving and updating weekly.
Even today when you’re doom-scrolling you can discover an amazing animation of a podcast showcasing zoo animals discussing their weekend plans and using South African swear words until you realise this content was Al generated.
This content has become absurdly popular which begs the question, are we starting to use entertainment to numb ourselves to death and become dopamine addicted sheep?
Today more than ever, we need critical thinkers, artists, politicians and readers who will lead our country, so that we may thrive and harness the power of Al for our communities in the age of shrinking attention spans.
