Did I become an AI fanatic?

I have a technology background: a master's degree in physics, a thesis at Philips Research on a new type of RAM, and a first job as a science and technology journalist at a Dutch career magazine.

But I am a late technology adopter. When a new technology comes along, so many people jump on it that I typically don't want to be involved. I am not a sheep!

It was the same with AI. Although machine learning has overlap with research that some of my physics friends did, I completely missed it. Even when ChatGPT exploded in early 2023, my first reaction was: come on people, no need to get so excited! We will have to see whether this will lead to something useful.

Oh boy, I was wrong. I saw the light recently. It happened when Claude explained to me how things on my MacBook worked, and I understood them for the first time ever. It happened when I built this website with modern tools and almost no effort. It happened when I heard a talk from Garry Tan explaining how you can build a company brain that holds all its employees' documents, emails and conversations, so agents can answer any question.

Now I am a convert. Like everyone in Silicon Valley, I believe this is going to transform our world. So I have decided to go all in. I now spend many hours a week understanding AI, configuring agents, reading about new developments, and coming up with applications. I regret being a late adopter - from now on I am a sheep!