Blog #8: Diffusion of AI

  The examination of why a new invention is adapted by society as its popularity grows is the simplest way to describe Diffusion Theory. This theory is used to better understand how and why a certain invention gains popularity and grows at a substantial rate. With the emergence of so many new inventions, it makes it easier to pinpoint how the general public will react to a new invention before it comes out. The growth AI has had in recent years is exponential and studying it using the Diffusion theory will show us a lot about why it grew at the rate it did. 

AI

The first group to tinker with AI is the early adopters who already had the resources to have the AI and used it to build software for their companies or use it to research for something that would take an individual a substantial amount of time to find. The early majority are those who likely found an online chatbot around 2020 and used it for simple things. Most of these people are likely to be students who used AI to assist them with schoolwork. This majority also included businesses who did not use AI to enhance their business until later and likely adopted it for convenience reasons as well as a marketing tool and schedule maker. 

I do use AI bots such as ChatGPT every once in a while to assist me with paper formatting, presentation outlines and random questions that come to my mind since it has become more convenient than using a search engine like google. The only downside for AI blowing up is if we develop a reliance on it and use it for everything. If AI is at the forefront of everything then it will hurt humanity overall and we will do ourselves a disservice by discrediting what the human mind can do without AI. AI has been criticized due to younger generations already developing a reliance to it limiting their ability to be creative. I do think the positives outweigh the negatives for the time being but that certainly is subject to change if it keeps infiltrating the minds of our young people.

Diffusion Theory Model