Generative AI and humanity
Generative AI is currently evolving, helping the ecommerce market meet the needs of its customers but also those of employees and vendors. However, there is a perception that the continuous advancement of this new technology will result to the replacement of what have up until now been human-driven and owned tasks only. For a sober approach to be, one should consider a founding principle; technology – generative AI included - is designed by humans to use to enhance their competencies and upgrade the quality of their services; it is therefore aimed to facilitate and supplement and not eliminate the human element and contribution.
At its core, it has a supporting role. As such, it is meant to be used to help simplify or altogether eliminate any peripheral, time-consuming and cumbersome day-to-day activities, streamline processes, provide accurate and real-time data and as a result, allow employees to focus on the substantial areas of their role and enable insightful and safe decision-making.

Having the right perspective is an imperative when it comes to one’s outlook on technology. The one thing that is exclusive to humans and that technology can never replace is consciousness, mind, and sentience; it can certainly simulate thought and understanding but this is based on the parameters that humans design and 'feed' it with.

It is discouraging to see how willing one is to resign to the uniqueness of the human nature and attribute technology abilities that it is not naturally enhanced with, such as conscious thinking; but at the same time, it is not at all surprising since with authority and control come responsibility and ownership and this is a moral obligation that the majority of humans are often quick to turn away from. One's outlook on technology largely depends on their understanding of it and therefore, ability to interpret any basic concepts that pertain to it. Historically, every new concept would spark fear and ambiguity while in the sphere of the unknown. My guess is that when it comes to automation, having fear be one's initial and instinctive reaction, probably resembles the reaction people must have had when fire or electricity were first discovered. When confronted with the unknown, one's basic instinct will kick in to trigger a need to first identify the potential danger and risk to help create a shield and ensure survival rather than propel them to think of possible benefits and advantages. Being skeptical around how a potentially false or malicious use of generative AI can harm the human species, is certainly a sound concern given how much the average person knows about this technology, yet for one to be quick to build their primary argument around a potential threat vs the opportunity that it brings with it, might as well be an indication of a lack of responsibility to guard and use this new tool wisely, thoughtfully and consciously.

A few years ago my closing paragraph on such a topic would most probably be about how change is the only constant and how one is likely to be afraid of it when acknowledging the need to follow and adapt to it; yet this is not my closing paragraph today. In my professional lifetime and following my personal interpretation of the events that are unfolding in the world, spanning from war taking place across continents, an epidemic hitting the global population in its entirety, our stance toward human rights across the board, I will say that the only constant is free will and humans' willingness to turn a blind eye to how its use can affect the well being and balance of the ecosystem. See, at the end of the day it is not about what a tool can do but how you choose to use it.