Ege Haber Column – Staying Human in the Age of AI

When I was a kid, my father used to get really annoyed when I used a calculator at his corner shop.

“Do it in your head,” he would say.

Back then, it felt like a pointless hardship. Customers waiting, items piling up, and me trying to add up the prices at the same time. Not to mention the risk of getting scolded if I made a mistake.

But years later I realized my father wasn’t just teaching me arithmetic.

He was teaching me to think.

Where we are today, the calculator looks pretty innocent. Now there’s artificial intelligence. It writes, it creates images, it builds presentations, it runs analyses, it offers ideas. Sometimes it even gives faster and cleaner answers than a person.

At first glance, one question comes to mind:

“So what will be left for us?”

I think the answer to that question really matters.

Because we tend to react to new technologies in one of two extremes. We’re either completely mesmerized or completely afraid.

But as I see it, the point isn’t what AI can do. It’s what we’ll do with it.

For years, my work has been about bringing people together. Team games, creative events, the stage, entertainment, experiences… In other words, people have always been at the heart of it.

When I first started using AI, I noticed something: this technology speeds up the process of coming up with ideas incredibly. Some alternatives we used to reach after hours of brainstorming, we can now reach in minutes.

But there’s an important difference.

AI can give you ideas.

But it’s still people who understand which idea will touch another human being.

Maybe AI can measure the sparkle in a participant’s eyes at an event. But living the emotion of that moment, understanding it, feeling it, is something else entirely.

I believe that in the years ahead, the real difference won’t be made by those who use technology, but by those who can bring technology and people together.

Because AI can save us time.

But we’ll still be the ones deciding what to fill that time with.

To create more?

To think more?

Or just to consume faster?

This is the critical part.

I’m not against technology. Quite the opposite, I’m curious. I tinker with every new tool. The kid who used to take toys apart to figure out how they worked is still inside me.

But I also believe this:

A person’s greatest strength isn’t just having access to information. It’s being able to make sense of it.

In the age of AI, teaching our children only to write code, use apps, and enter prompts won’t be enough. We’ll need to teach them to be curious, to ask questions, to think ethically, to create, and most importantly, to stay human.

Because in the future, a lot of things will be automated.

But conscience won’t be automated.

Imagination won’t be automated.

A sense of responsibility won’t be automated.

One person making another person feel better won’t be automated.

Maybe AI will remind us of this:

Being human is worth more than we thought.

Once, power belonged to those who had information.

Now everyone has access to information.

From now on, power will belong to those who use that information the right way.

And perhaps most importantly, no matter how far technology advances, the same question will still sit at the center of life:

“How does this benefit people?”

For me, AI is not a threat. But it isn’t a savior on its own, either.

It’s a tool.

Just like the calculator.

Just like the computer.

Just like the internet.

But the intentions, intelligence, ethics, and imagination of the person using the tool are still what make the difference.

That’s why, in the age of AI, the real question isn’t how smart machines will become.

It’s how human we’ll remain.

Source: Ege Haber ↗