If something is going to come across as timeless, it will probably take a bit of time to create.
Last month I was in Palma on the island of Mallorca. While we were there, we visited the famous Palma Cathedral. As my friends and I wandered around in awe of its majesty, one of us asked, “Hey, what year do you think this was built?” The answer isn’t one year or even a few. Construction began in 1229, and it wasn’t finished until 1601. It took 372 years to complete! And today, 425 years after its completion, 1.2 million people visit the cathedral every year.
Every day I think about artificial intelligence and how it can make us better and more efficient. And there is no debate: it is making us faster. But faster is only better when the output is just as good as, or better than, if a slower human did it themselves. We’ve all become way too familiar with the reality of AI slop. It can swiftly and easily ruin a brand and reputation.
A recent headline grabbed my attention. The gist of the article was that trust can’t keep up with AI, so people are still very important to business. This is encouraging news for the people worrying about AI taking jobs. And it’s also important to remember as a small business trying to keep up with technology. We need to embrace AI, but remember the purpose of everything that we are creating. We’re not creating something for the sake of checking off a box. We’re still creating something for humans.
We build buildings faster than ever before, and we tear them down almost as quickly because we don’t build them to last. We lament this when we visit old architecture and say yet again: “They don’t make them like they used to.”
The price of speed is often art and beauty, and one of the most joyous of all human experiences: Awe.
