AI – Unlimited Potential or End of the World
Travel, travel, travel. Let’s take a break, shall we? Before we talk about Istanbul and then the Natal Midlands, let’s talk Artificial Intelligence or AI as it is colloquially known. Oooooh… So much controversy! As always with articles of this nature, the views expressed here are my own and in no way reflect those of Cross Country Insurance Company.
AI has, quite suddenly, become the dinner-table disruptor of our time – equal parts fascination and fear. It promises efficiency, creativity, and a reimagining of how we work and live, yet it also raises uncomfortable questions about authenticity, employment, and even what it means to be human. Is it a tool, a collaborator, or a quiet usurper waiting in the wings? Much like stepping into a new country for the first time, there’s a mix of excitement and unease – an awareness that while discovery lies ahead, so too does the unknown.
The kind of AI that enables silly memes on social media leaves me cold. But hey, if it amuses some, then good for them… I’m far more interested in the serious side of AI – the kind that is quietly reshaping industries, decision-making, and the very fabric of our daily lives.
In truth, we, as ordinary individuals, have virtually no control over stopping AI’s advance – nor does it seem that anyone with real influence intends to. This is the direction the world has chosen, for better or worse. So perhaps the first step is to stop worrying about halting it altogether. Our collective anxiety, however justified, is unlikely to slow the momentum.
What we can do, though, is choose how we engage with it: with curiosity rather than fear, with discernment rather than blind acceptance. Because if AI is here to stay – and all signs suggest it is – then understanding it, questioning it, and using it wisely may be the only control we truly have. I recently signed up for a 28-day course on AI – learning about a variety of programs/apps, what they do and how to use them. And it is absolutely fascinating!
To me, the first truly significant benefit is timesaving. For example, one can take a dense report and translate it into a clear, actionable plan – quite literally in seconds. Tasks that once required hours of concentration can now be completed almost instantaneously. So rather than focusing solely on what jobs people may lose, why not shift the perspective? Why not consider the infinite possibilities of what can be done with the time that’s been freed up? Time, after all, is the one resource we never get back. If AI gives us more of it, perhaps the real question isn’t what it takes away – but what it allows us to gain.
And talking about infinite possibilities – I am absolutely loving the creative explosion that AI has unlocked. Without a single musical bone in your body, you can compose a unique piece of music to accompany images. You can create art, films, and social media content that would once have taken years to produce, now brought to life in mere minutes. Perhaps what unsettles us is not the technology itself, but the sheer, exponential pace at which life now seems to move. Everything is faster, more immediate, more… amplified. And that can feel overwhelming.
But I truly believe this is something to celebrate. For the first time, creativity is no longer gated by money, technical skill, or time. The barriers have fallen away. What remains is pure imagination—limitless and accessible to anyone willing to explore it. And the results? Outstanding. Unbelievable. And, quite simply, beautiful.
I have recently become obsessed with the art of a woman called Kelly Boesch. She is considered an AI visual innovator,blending two decades of design expertise from IMAX and abstract painting with cutting-edge technology. The results are extraordinary. In truth, I believe one needs a mind completely free of restraints and phenomenal creativity to create this kind of content. AI simply implements her imagination. I have included some links to her work in the info box below. There is no way that the vast majority of what she is creating can be mistaken for “real” – and yet it is totally mesmerizing. Art for art’s sake. I think that AI is going to challenge the creative limits of people’s minds, and that the results are going to be spectacular. Nothing to be afraid of – simply embrace, enjoy or ideally, even participate!
There is also the perception that AI is only for the young. Kelly Boesch is 71 according to some AI. I cannot find any info to substantiate this, but the point is that she is no teenager. She is scheduled to deliver her TED Talk on April 15, 2026, in Vancouver, BC, as part of the TED2026 conference, entitled “Art, Music, AI and The Joy of Creativity” – so perhaps one can judge age then. It doesn’t really matter, the point of this is that there is no age limit with AI – and that too is hugely positive… Mariusz Kulak is another intriguing AI artist, born in 1961. Some of his video links are included below – take a moment and view one or two. The limit of human creativity is truly being challenged.
Talking of mimicking reality, there is an area of AI that I do feel is quintessentially wrong. The mimicking of wildlife behaviour. Yes, it is my area of expertise and my passion. That is not, however, why I have an issue. If actual behaviour was being mimicked, that would somehow be acceptable. But that is not the case. There are truly some bizarre clips – behaviour which NO animal would ever engage in. Yet, because AI is getting better every day, and thus more realistic, and because people who don’t know better are watching it, they believe it… That IS a problem.
When I was training as a field guide (many, many years before AI!), I used to take great delight in asking those instructing us to regale stories of how they’d come close to dying (gruesome, I know – but super-valuable lessons!). One told the story of a walking safari. As always, clients were briefed never to get between the problem animal and the ranger with the gun. They apparently came across an elephant bull in musth, who was decimating a bush. Without hesitation, a foreign guest ran past the guide, to perhaps ten meters from the action and started taking photos. Through some miracle, no one was hurt. That night, discussing the incident, the guest couldn’t understand where the danger lay. When asked, his only experience of elephants was the cartoon “Dumbo”. Now, what his reality was is open to debate, but it hit me like a ton of bricks whilst writing this piece on AI dangers from a wildlife perspective, that this innocuous little story was the beginning of such issues. When informed by cartoons, wildlife interactions are not going to go well…
One of the “fake” videos that went viral was of an elephant holding a lion cub above its head in its trunk, saving it from some danger (I cannot remember – perhaps hyaenas). Far too many thought that was real. “How do you KNOW it’s not possible?” Well, because ultimately cubs grow up to be adult lions, who wouldn’t hesitate to devour an elephant calf. And thus, given the opportunity, the elephant would more likely kill the cub (a predator) than help it across the road. That’s how. But when one looked at the footage, it was virtually impossible to tell that it wasn’t real.
AI videos also often depict overly close or friendly wildlife encounters, and this can pressure safari operators and tourists to engage in unsafe or unethical behaviours, endangering both humans and animals. There is a huge increase in wildlife / human conflict – and the vast majority is because people are simply getting too close to wild animals that are not, as a rule, “friendly”. They may tolerate you, but at the first sign of anything they consider a threat, they will quite possibly run – or attack. Their lives depend on this behaviour – it is encoded into their DNA. Don’t mistake ‘tolerance’ for ‘friendly’ – there is no possible benefit for a wild animal becoming friendly with a human. That animal will always end up paying the ultimate price when things go wrong. And, as often seen in AI, never interpret an animal’s behaviour in human terms (this is called anthropomorphizing animal behaviour). It will get you hurt.
As with everything, there are exceptions – crazy stories which turn out to be true. Real life is often stranger than fiction. Remember the lioness who ‘raised’ a gazelle? A Kenyan lioness named Kamunyak (“the Blessed One”) famously adopted and cared for multiple baby oryx in the early 2000s, displaying maternal behaviour instead of hunting them. She protected them from other predators but failed to sustain them, as she could not provide milk. (See link below). Or the dolphins that get high by playing ball with puffer fish. With AI, I’m guessing that now few will believe what is actually true. Which, counterintuitively, reverses the issue…
Sites such as HYPERAi state: “Welcome to HYPERAi, where artificial intelligence meets pure adrenaline. Every short you see here is AI-generated.” Good for them – stating that they are AI. Others don’t and people are taken in. Many republish the content without the AI acknowledgement. There simply isn’t any control.
I don’t have the answers. Is there one definitive way to tell whether a video is fake / AI? No. As always, these are musings which ideally engender considered thought. In a nutshell, I have three beliefs. Firstly, there are no controls yet, and there is nothing you can do about it at the moment. Secondly, AI can be extremely useful and time saving. And lastly, the limits of creativity are being stretched by the real artists – and the results are a thing of beauty. That’s all…
Jacqui Ikin & The Cross Country Team
INFO BOX:
Kelly Boesch:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2161381331060925
https://www.facebook.com/reel/958175643611434
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1505114170958248
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1309123301057880
In this one, the realism is sooo true to life:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/4311530832464632
This one intrigued me, specifically around the possibilities for film making. Loved the ‘camel-dog’!!
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1461177711567819
Mariusz Kulak:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/25955240477478315
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1274161390768377
HYPERAi – site states: “Welcome to HYPERAi, where artificial intelligence meets pure adrenaline. Every short you see here is AI-generated.”
“Feels” completely real:
https://www.facebook.com/reel/847389997725655
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1516839102771301
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1471223180645061
Rafka Fathan Efendi – site also states that “vidio edukasi, AI, animal”.
He doesn’t try to hide that it’s fake – but comments indicate there are many who think it’s real…
https://www.facebook.com/reel/1935021163782572
https://www.facebook.com/reel/2273936909785914
Exception: Lioness adopted a baby antelope:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZw-1BfHFKM&t=7s
Dolphins purposely ‘getting high’ on pufferfish:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=msx3BAhIeQg
