But… Is this really going to be that bad?

Optimism bias leads us to underestimate our chances of facing negative events and overestimate our likelihood of encountering positive ones. Examples of optimism bias are as abundant as they are mathematically impossible: for instance, 73 percent of U.S. drivers are confident they are better than most, 94 percent of professors believe they outperform their peers, and 80 percent of people rate their physical appearance as above the norm.

Whether we are estimating our skills, competence, or attractiveness, humans consistently display an uncanny overconfidence that highlights our skewed self-perception and an illogical optimism about our personal capabilities.

This bias is often attributed to cognitive mechanisms that protect our self-esteem and promote a positive outlook. Ironically, these same instincts, designed to protect us, also cause us to overestimate our abilities, leaving us unprepared for new challenges.

Research has also shown that we not only harbor an optimism bias toward the future but also a negative bias toward the past, remembering difficult experiences more vividly than positive ones.

Like a contemporary Greek tragedy, we find ourselves trapped between two biases: first dismissing AI’s threat, only to then be condemned to forever remember its dramatic repercussions.

AI’s impact will likely be overstated in the short run, understated in the medium run, and unfathomable in the long run!