We need to educate society more about AI

2 min readOct 22, 2023

We need to educate society more about AI - Murat Durmus

Today was the last day at the Frankfurt Book Fair. In the previous five days, I must have had over 100 conversations/discussions about AI and several interviews and had the honor of participating in a panel discussion. The conversations and discussions I had were reflective of the broader society. There were professionals from the publishing industry, authors, translators, educators, students, retirees … and many others.

I can tell you that the uncertainty and “fears” about the rapid development of AI are already great. It’s at least more significant than I would have assumed. We developed two large touch screens at the book fair with application examples of generative AI to demonstrate examples accompanying the Discussions. The feedback was overwhelming.

I tried to educate people and take away their uncertainty. It was not always easy, as some biases regarding AI had already taken root in some people’s minds. Nevertheless, I could trigger positive signals in some people. At least, I hope so.

When one door closes, another one always opens. AI is here, and it’s not going away, so everyone has to be able to deal with it and see it as an opportunity, not a disadvantage. AI can expand our capabilities and create opportunities that were previously inaccessible. However, we must remember to evolve along with it. We need to adapt our mindset, be open-minded towards change, and be mindful of this technology. Whether as developers of such systems or as consumers.

That was the central message I tried to convey. I hope to remove some uncertainty and motivate some to deal with AI more profoundly and constructively.

Here are some impressions from the Frankfurt Book Fair 2023: