My Personal AI Principles

My Personal AI Principles

AI use in the Tech world has already become commonplace (with mixed feelings from the community). As I have explored the usage of these tools in my own day to day life both personally and professionally, I’m beginning to discover my own personal set of “AI Principles”, or how I want to ground my own usage of AI tooling in my beliefs and morals, but also in current reality.

I expect these principles to change quickly and frequently as tools evolve, so I will regularly reevaluate these principles to match new realities and fit them to my own growth and evolving opinions.

1. Prefer human creativity when meaningful

Respect human innovation and creativity over all. AI would not be what it is today without it.

Use AI for minimally creative endeavors when you can do so while still respecting human creativity, such as aesthetic-only slide images for presentations. Avoid AI usage that is harmful or disrespectful to human creativity, such as copying popular art styles, artistic depictions, or as a replacement for creative professions.

2. Approach AI solutions with healthy skepticism

Avoid settling into default acceptance of AI-generated solutions. When using AI tools to solve problems, always understand what criteria the solution will be evaluated against to be deemed “valid”. Passing unit tests is typically not enough, just as it wouldn’t be enough for peer-generated solutions.

3. Plan and edit, but do not write using AI

Allow yourself to use AI tools for planning the establishing the general structure of written documents, but do not use AI to generate the content of your writing. You are “One Voice In the Cosmic Fugue” - embrace this by allowing YOUR voice to carry on, rather than being a vector for passing along AI output. AI is powerful, but it cannot create new ideas from lived experiences.

4. Be human, but understand that AI agents are not

Human / AI interactions are typically conversational in nature, and it is easy to start to feel like you are conversing with a real human. It can be psychologically important to understand that you are not interacting with an entity that has true thoughts and feelings, but this does not mean you should lower yourself below your own standards for productive, respectful human communication.

Conversational AI interactions are part of honing your regular communication skills, and can be viewed as “practice” for how you might communicate with others - communicate poorly often enough with AI and you may dull those skills over time, affecting your human-to-human communications as well.

5. Understand how AI tools work, regardless of personal opinion

Regardless of opinions on the trajectory of AI and it’s usage, take the time to understand how these tools work. The current momentum behind AI tools will carry them forward with or without you. Understanding how these tools work informs how they affect you and your passions, and how you might best utilize (or avoid) them to meet personal goals or improve your own skills.

6. Adapt to the realities of change in my profession, but stay true to strongly held beliefs

Pandora’s box is open and enthusiasm for AI tools and their current and potential uses is high and increasing daily. Be prepared to adapt to the evolving technology landscape, but understand where your most strongly held beliefs intersect with AI use, and don’t sacrifice your own morals for the sake of progress.