What I’ve been up to lately, thoughts on AI, and 10 lessons from Pozitive Tech 2024

December 11, 2024

7 min read

A personal update on recent business moves, reflections on the fast-moving world of AI, and key takeaways from the Pozitive Technologies 2024 conference—including some surprising facts you might not expect.

Latest from my journey

Recently, during conversations with owners of small and large companies, I noticed a gap—or perhaps more accurately, a problem—in the highly saturated IT market. The market might indeed be overcrowded, but I believe that many products and services are of low quality—often created by amateurs or individuals with limited expertise. I know I can do better; I also know which clients to target and have a concept for a profitable business model.

As a result, I decided to create a website and send out a few "cold messages" to potential clients, which ultimately led to my first completed project. Just a few days later, a much larger one came along, further convincing me that I can help many companies increase their customer base, improve online visibility, and—consequently—generate more profits for both them and myself.

I wouldn’t have achieved this without my long-standing interest in and exploration of marketing and sales techniques. At one point, I even concluded that these skills might be more valuable than programming itself. I’m currently in the process of verifying that idea.

I’m intentionally not sharing the details of this business or the specific market niche, as I plan to write a more comprehensive post after completing the current major project and drawing conclusions. However, if you browse my blog, you can probably guess what it’s all about. :)

Why am I writing this post?

This post is primarily about artificial intelligence and my approach to it, so I’ll start by providing some context. I’ve been using ChatGPT practically from the beginning. For quite some time, I’ve had a paid account that gives me access to GPT-4 and GPT-4-turbo (0.1). I’m not a tech geek who follows every trend daily and tests every new model, but I use AI regularly at work.

I also installed ComfyUI locally and downloaded several models to generate pixel art graphics for my MMORPG game, which I develop purely as a hobby in my free time. Is using AI in everyday work effective? You’ll find the answer to that later in the post.

I should also mention that I often discuss AI and its role in today’s world with my good friend (shout-out to you, Artur) over a beer. These conversations often last for hours because our beliefs and conclusions tend to differ significantly. That dynamic inspired us to attend the finale of Pozitive Tech 2024, which took place on December 6, 2024, at the ZAMEK Culture Center in Poznań. We were most intrigued by the talks given by Prof. Andrzej Dragan, Dr. Maciej Kawecki, and Piotr Konieczny.

We both agreed the event was incredibly interesting, and that it’s definitely worth attending such conferences. Personally, I saw it as the perfect opportunity to finally write a blog post :).

10 takeaways from the conference

1. Let’s enjoy experimenting with artificial intelligence while we still can, as various regulations on the horizon may limit its free and unrestricted use.

2. The development of AI is astonishingly fast, and its future is practically impossible to predict. Experts who tried to forecast it often ended up being discredited.

3. We live in an era where even well-informed IT professionals often can’t tell whether a given social media post was created by a human or AI.

4. Many scientists believe AI development could lead to potentially dangerous scenarios. Still, as researchers driven by curiosity, they want to see how far it can go before regulations interfere.

5. The energy consumption of AI poses a major limitation. While models can theoretically be scaled further, this comes at a huge energy cost. For context: the human brain uses as much energy as a light bulb, while training one of the GPT models reportedly used as much energy as the country of Poland consumes in a day or more (I don’t recall the exact timeframe, but the scale is striking).

6. Microsoft is planning to build a dedicated nuclear power plant to support AI development.

7. While AI outperforms humans in solving many problems, it hasn’t yet tackled challenges much more complex than those already addressed by humans. For example, it hasn’t created a new physical theory.

8. Scientists still don’t fully understand what consciousness is, which makes it impossible to answer related questions about AI.

9. AI currently cannot learn or explore the world spontaneously the way humans do. It only operates when a human initiates a training process or assigns a specific task.

10. In some professions, AI doesn’t take jobs away—but increases the workload. For example, radiologists now receive more diagnostic images thanks to AI, meaning more work overall, even if AI assists with part of the process.

My own thoughts

Let me start by answering the question: is using AI helpful for me in daily tasks? The answer is simple: yes. Whether it’s programming or business-related work, AI proves to be incredibly useful. Of course, it doesn’t do everything for me—but with its support, I complete tasks much faster. Instead of building everything from scratch, I piece together solutions from larger or smaller “building blocks.” I also use AI instead of Google for many queries.

For instance, let’s say I need to implement a contact form. In the past, I would have written it manually or adapted existing code. Now, I simply write a prompt describing what I need, the desired color scheme, and the tools I’m using. Within seconds, I get a ready-to-use component that only needs minor tweaks. Naturally, for more complex problems—like designing a combat algorithm for a game—AI is less useful. In those cases, I need to think everything through myself, though AI can still help fine-tune formulas or logic.

ChatGPT is equally helpful for less technical, more business-oriented tasks. It drafts emails or posts, picks color schemes for websites in specific industries, suggests keywords for SEO, generates product or domain names, proposes newsletter strategies, and even outlines business growth plans.

Am I afraid of AI development?

Yes and no. First, I share the view of many smart people: we simply can’t predict where AI development is heading. Like them, I’m deeply curious and want to see what happens.

On one hand, I can imagine a world where AI handles everything: it runs businesses, builds infrastructure, manages resources, and communicates seamlessly with itself. People wake up with almost nothing to do. For some, that might sound like a dream—but for me, it’s a little depressing. I currently find joy in small things, like planting something in my garden on a spring day off. If AI starts doing even that, what’s left? Sure, I could still do it “for fun,” but I worry life in such a world would lose much of its meaning.

And that’s without even mentioning the more obvious concern: replacing entire professions.

On the other hand, such a vision may never fully materialize. Energy limitations are real, and new technologies often create new roles and responsibilities we can’t foresee yet. So far, technology has improved our quality of life more than it’s harmed it.

To sum up: am I in favor of AI development? Yes. I believe we must keep moving forward as a civilization, and the benefits still outweigh the risks. I’m excited about the future and grateful to witness such a transformative era.

What does concern me is that many people still have no idea what AI really is, what it can do, and how fast it’s evolving.