AI made me get a dog

AI made me get a dog. Well, more accurately, my son pressured my wife into getting a dog but keeping him was an easy decision after becoming slightly obsessed with the rise of AI.

He’s called Wookie, he was once abandoned in Abu Dhabi and now we’ve taken him in. It was as a temporary foster home, but the little guy has now settled in and the chaos he brings has been quite welcome.

He is very intelligent. Dogs are up there with some of the smartest animals on the planet. He is also a bit of an idiot, which I love.

Living things are fallible. We are brilliant at many things and then downright useless at others - just ask my former foreign language teachers. I was nicht so gut.

Wookie has quickly learnt my weaknesses (that cute puppy look as you go near the treats), yet he also barks at walls and runs into windows. 

The reason I say AI made me get a dog is because I often need a reminder that living should be beautifully chaotic and technology has its limits. Screens are everywhere and now AI can answer just about any question we can think of, while automating many things that were part of daily life. I've watched a few documentaries on AI recently and it's left be bewildered and, quite frankly, a bit scared.

Dogs are the epitome of living in the moment. Wookie is a ball of pure joy who just wants to be around his people. I’m hoping that Wookie reminds my two boys that there is life away from the Ai-revolution, Playstations and Netflix, forcing them to go on walks, pick up after him, feed him, and all those other daily habits a pet brings. 

Most of all, I hope he’s doing the one thing that AI will never be able to do: being a bit silly at those moments when we just need to smile, as all of our best friends do.

It’s time to Level Up

On the subject of intelligence, let’s not forget that we are still smarter than AI (for now). We might even be able to help you keep that brain developing this weekend away from prompts and coding.

I’m a big believer in that we never stop learning. Life moves at an incredible speed and I’m sure it gets faster as you get older. I read a lot and forget most of it, but it doesn’t stop me trying.

We should all be looking for opportunities to take that next step and develop ourselves, or to even just make sure our brains are constantly active. That’s why Gulf News is hosting Level Up this weekend (September 26-27) at Dusit Thani Hotel.

You can find out about everything from Master’s and MBA programmes to flexible and part-time learning. There are a host of incredible universities and post-graduate organisations attending who will be giving out up-to-date information and advice for those considering their options.

It really is worth calling by, no matter where you are on your journey. We hope to see you there.

Have a great weekend. I’ll mainly be trying to train Wookie to sit, to stay and to stop barking at walls. I wonder if ChatGPT has any advice…