There is a notion barfed out into the zeitgeist at every node of the punctuated advancement of technology: hop on or get lost.

Once again, technology has leapt forward at a pace that our wee human brains can no longer keep up with and the loudest voices in the media, online, and from the business communities all seem to be saying the same thing. They are reminding us that we need to adapt or be left behind.

Embrace AI, it is inevitable, they say.

Oh, I agree to some level. The metaphorical toothpaste is out of the tube. Barring a collapse of trillions of dollars of computing infrastructure, we now live in a world where generative algorithms exist and will continue to do so.

If you want to fit in, if you want to join the ranks of waged employees in cubicles doing computer-based work, if you want to create commercial art… there is no going back. 

But then… where are we going and why are we in such a rush to hop on and get there?

No, really? I’m asking. 

Is there something that we’re missing when we are told that the only option is to turn to an algorithm to solve all our problems? For my own part, I want to believe that there is. I want to hold onto enough of my own humanity that I don’t fully surrender my imagination, my enjoyment of the world, and the connection between people to something that can be computed, optimized, generated, and monetized.

There will be other trains, so the urgency to ride this one—I think—may just be an illusion from those who have forgot that the journey to get somewhere is often more exciting than the destination itself.