Two Sides of the Tech Mirror: AI Convenience and Future Worries

Growing up in today’s era is an astonishing journey. Looking back at my high school days between 2011 and 2014, so many things have changed drastically across various sectors—from music trends, the political dynamics in Indonesia that currently seem to have almost no opposition, to leaps in technology that were previously unimaginable.

One of the biggest disruptions today is undoubtedly the presence of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Let’s remember: back then, just to understand a single math formula, we needed multiple repetitions. Sometimes we had to ask friends who understood it better so they could teach us using simpler methods or analogies. And now? We just need to ask AI, “What’s an easy way to understand this formula?” and the answer is served instantly right before our eyes.

Every change, no matter how great, always brings pros and cons. Personally, this AI disruption has helped my daily work and life immensely. However, undeniably, there is a deep-seated worry constantly bothering me: how will this technological shift affect how our brains work, especially in the future?

As a father, that worry peaks when realizing how easily accessible AI is right now—even for free without subscription fees. Today’s toddlers are already very accustomed to screen time and are fluent in operating touch-screen smartphones. It is highly possible, or even a certainty, that in the future they will be able to operate AI with extreme ease. My biggest fear is that AI will merely be used as a shortcut—a search engine for instant “answer keys” that erodes the process of learning and critical thinking itself.

With my background in IT, I used to enjoy finding loopholes—like tinkering with settings to enable a VPN—to break through internet restrictions and explore more of what was out there. Technical things like that could once only be done by those who truly “understood” technology. But in today’s AI era, that gap seems to have dissolved. Someone who used to be tech-illiterate and could barely handle basic administrative tasks can now understand and execute complex technical matters simply by following AI’s interactive guidance.

To me, AI today is like adult content without adequate filtering. Even with the limits or regulations its developers put in place, the loopholes for manipulating it and learning things one shouldn’t remain wide open for anyone.

I sincerely hope that going forward there will be wiser boundaries, regulations, and awareness around this AI ecosystem. As a closing thought to this reflection:

“Something might work for the good, but just like a mirror, there’s always a dark side behind it.”

— Kurniawan, August 2026