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In these years, I have discovered the most obvious problem: some information can be easily obtained through search engines, but many people are spreading rumors like crazy. I have always been shocked, why are people so lazy and unwilling to open a search engine and enter a few keywords to find information that is different from their own ideas? If they do, can't they easily expose those rumors?

However, I later found that things are not as simple as they seem. Most people are afraid of new things and are afraid that the search results they see will not match their expectations, so they simply refuse to use search engines. More importantly, people need to accurately define their "target description" in the search engine. Can you clearly describe what you want to find? Using a few keywords to let the search engine know what you want is a valuable skill. This problem also applies to the use of intelligent tools such as ChatGPT. People need to accurately describe the information they need, and the more precise and concise the description, the clearer the results obtained. Traditional search engines also have a flaw. Many people do not know how to accurately define their needs in the face of powerful tools. What's more troublesome is that many key information exists in English, which is not surprising. After all, many important academic papers in China have English versions. This is also one of the reasons why the English test is so difficult, because sometimes you need to consult papers. However, the recent popular trend of "de-anglicization" in China has confused me. English is one of the important tools for the bottom people to counterattack. How can it be easily abandoned?

Now ChatGPT has caused a sensation, and early search engines have also attracted similar attention. Imagine a search box that can tell you the answer to all questions, how unsettling it is. However, as time goes by, we also clearly see that the vast majority of people have not benefited much from this tool. As a completely open tool, search engines are imperceptible to most people and have become a weapon for a few. This reminds me of what a top technical expert told me many years ago: With Google, why go to college? He used to study medicine, but he couldn't establish himself in medical school, and eventually became a big shot in the technology field with the power of Google. Perhaps these words may be difficult for some people to accept, but if you are engaged in development work and deal with Google every day, you will find that the information found by different people varies greatly. This has given me some insights: life is like an arena, and everyone who enters will be amazed to find that there are a bunch of different tools for them to choose from. These tools range from sticks to machine guns. However, it is difficult to understand why most people choose a kitchen knife that is easy to operate and easy to use, rather than a machine gun that requires a certain learning cost. The final result is also obvious: what seems to be a fair competition has become a one-sided massacre due to the difference in tools. Of course, the reality is more complicated, because not everyone has only one tool. Perhaps some people's children are not smart and choose a stick, but their father has a bazooka.

This also raises a very frightening question: the public nature of technology and the inequality of users. Similar to paper libraries and various tutorials, these are powerful tools that must be guarded and protected as "state secrets" by the ruling class in feudal society, but now they are all shown to ordinary people. However, the vast majority of people turn a blind eye to them. If the previous things did not affect everyone, what impact can a ChatGPT have on them? This thing is likely to calm down after this period of noise, and then become a tool used by a few people every day, and most people will not touch it unless necessary. Without accident, the social gap will further widen.

At this time, we need to use some ancient skills, such as cross-referencing and other basic search techniques, as well as necessary common sense to judge the reliability of search results. In addition, we often use search engines and we all know that one of the most important means to confirm the authenticity of something is to constantly trace the earliest source of this knowledge and whether there are relevant papers to support it. For the large-scale application of ChatGPT, this skill is still very important. As you can see, no matter what tool it is, the final effect depends on the person using it. In the hands of different people, the difference in the use effect far exceeds the difference between a stick and a nuclear weapon...

With the passage of time, the evolution of ChatGPT has now formed such characteristics: it has no substantial impact on the lives of most people, but it provides some convenience. However, like Google, a small number of people still regard it as a precious tool that can bring significant changes to their lives. This is a common feature of all complex tools: they have no owners, they can create great value, but only those who can use them can unleash their potential. In addition, the learning cost is often high, and different people using the same tool can have a big difference in effect. Just like a stick, it can produce completely different effects in different hands. Not to mention tools like C language, JAVA, cameras, PS, Maya, some people can use them to create legends, while most people may not be able to create anything with them. Therefore, we don't need to deify tools, but we should not underestimate their power, because the true value of tools depends on the people who use them.

As for whether artificial intelligence will replace human labor, it mainly depends on the degree of replacement. The steam engine liberated countless hands, the car liberated people's legs, the search engine allows you to get answers directly without having to browse through a large number of books, and even computers have replaced many jobs. A heavy excavator can do the work of dozens of people in a day. These are obvious replacements. But to say that it can completely replace humans is obviously impossible. Because the progress of technology itself will create new demands and new occupations. 100 years ago, most people were engaged in agricultural production, and now 1% of the people's agricultural products can meet the needs of everyone. But the unemployment rate has not risen significantly, where have people gone?

There is a saying in Silicon Valley that most people in large companies are just living a retirement life. If you want to do something meaningful, you have to go to unicorn startups. The trend in the technology field now is that most people work around a few key cores. It's a bit like what is described in "The Three-Body Problem". Only Newton and Von Neumann are using their brains, and others only need to exert some effort. When Excel was introduced, many people predicted that it would completely change the face of the entire workplace, but in fact, it did not change much, it just made the work more troublesome and more trivial. And this kind of trivial work is the main goal and challenge of automation.

One thing to recognize is whether your work is "information flow" or "thought flow". In fact, the work of many financial editors is to organize online news, add some irrelevant comments, and then publish them. This is a typical "information flow" job, which will eventually be replaced by AI. Because AI is faster and more accurate than you, and the boss does not need to pay social security or pension for it. But if you are facing something with strong subjectivity, the customer cannot determine what they want, or a large amount of creativity is needed, then AI may not be competent in the short term. However, it can be predicted that as ChatGPT becomes stronger, the challenges faced by creative jobs will become greater in the future. For now, GPT will become your assistant, working with you, just like a search engine.

With the advancement of technology, various gaps are widening. This is not limited to ChatGPT, but the tools that allow ordinary people to catch up are right in front of us—such as English, computers, search engines, and countless tutorials. However, most people ignore them, and some even reject them, wishing to sweep away any foreign things as garbage. There is no simple solution to this problem because in the real world, 80% of people do not have the ability to read long articles. It is too difficult to ask them to use complex tools. The only thing we can do is to actively use these tools in our daily lives, constantly improve our skills in using them, and integrate their applications into our work and life. We may not be able to change the trend, but we can strive to keep up with it and not be left behind by the trend.