SAAS and AI

It is a strong desire to use tools and solutions that reduce cost/headcount and work, the root of technology is our ability to have the skill. In the short term, it seems a magic pill to have a app that can spit out an answer fast. But we forget that before Microsoft came out with Windows and the GUI interface, everything was done at the command line. The depth of know-how and knowledge was much greater. Engineers had better and deeper skills. But, once Windows GUI consoles became the AI of its day, armies of Windows Admin could configure DHCP and DNS in a GUI UI, but not so much on the command line. I once amazed a couple Windows Admin who never had worked in the command line by fixing a Domain Controller that was out of disk space on the C drive, but using Xcopy to couple files to another drive. They exclaimed, “You can do that!?!?!.

Now, I am not suggesting that we go back to the past, or adopt Linux systems that require knowing the kernal to add a drive. I am making the basic point that having the root knowledge of technology is something there is no substitute. Maybe someday, AI will be Mr Data on Startrek, and can, think and invent next generation of things. In the short term we still need to know how to do things. The more we know how to do things ChatGPT can’t do for you, the better you will be.