AI Is the New Electricity — But Not Everyone’s Wired In
Everyone’s talking about AI — but few are saying what it really is.
The best way I’ve heard it described? AI is the new electricity.
That’s because it can be used in almost any way you can imagine.
But when I look at it through the lens of a brown person in tech, we don’t have a plug when it comes to how we can use it.
I use AI tools every day across my life. In sales, I use it to interpret financial reports and board transcripts. At home, it helps me find the right microwave power for oats. It analyses my golf swing and validates my business ideas. For a monthly subscription, I get a virtual assistant that sits in the passenger seat — helping me think clearer, move faster, and get better answers.
That’s the crazy part. The technology isn’t in the future — it’s already here. And like every wave of tech (the internet, mobile phones, social media), I’ve noticed the same thing: the people who benefit most from these tools are the ones who understand how to play the game behind the game.
It reminds me of when I watch my younger cousins play Fortnite. There’s how the game was designed to be played — and then there’s skeez on how to actually play. Same with AI. There’s basic use, and then there’s a way to use it. Like how you can either spend four hours doing a repetitive task at work — or use AI and knock it out in three minutes.
Sounds good, but the problem I’m seeing is the commodification of AI literacy. Courses, newsletters, tools — all the important stuff lives behind a paywall. So I’m stuck in the middle: do I commercialise the knowledge I’ve gained, or make it free for those around me?
On one hand, access to knowledge is a right. On the other, sharing it takes time, effort, and real cost. So do I charge to sustain it — or does that just spin the same flywheel that once shut people out?
I’m still navigating this, so I don’t have a perfect answer. But I do know this: if Pasifika people can get ahead of this curve — not just as users, but as systemic shapers and governors — we can redefine the rules.
So I’ll keep learning. Keep building. Keep sharing. And maybe that’s the point—for now.