Dear Listeners,
Generative AI is here and will only advance... so what kind of relationship do you want to have with it? While it offers promises in terms of advancing bioscience, it’s lack of social, ethical or other guardrails is troubling. My suspicion is that tech is unlikely to step in and slow down this train. Unfortunately ‘unplugging it’ wont work, the cat is out of the bag. It’s late to close the stable door, the horse bolted. Turning the clock back is a bit of a fantasy.
The Wall Street Journal’s article titled “ChatGPT Heralds an Intellectual Revolution” by Henry Kissenger (former secretary of state, national security advisor), Eric Schmidt (Google) and Daniel Huttenlocher (MIT) is one of the more comprehensive discussions of the impact of AI on our culture and humanity I’ve come across. If you encounter a paywall see if a friend or a student can access a copy, this is a good read… though disturbing. It outlines how this technology may pose challenges to the qualities I tend to track in my work (and is the reason I bring it up here): mental health, consciousness, reality testing and our self-understanding as human beings.
I agree with the WSJ that this marks (my words) the beginning of a tectonic shift in cultures, globally. The article compares the introduction of generative AI to the age of Enlightenment/introduction of the printing press which ushered a rapid dissemination of ideas and knowledge “with each step testable and teachable.” AI-enabled systems work from the opposite direction. It goes on to say, “Sophisticated AI methods produce results without explaining why or how the process works.” The authors describe this technology as one which lacks transparency, is coupled with an authoritative tone, appears without opinion or an author… Yet it demonstrates automation bias (perceived perfection in responses yield over confidence in it’s results) and hallucinations (“strings together phrases whch look real to the human but have no basis in fact.”) History tends to repeat itself- we may wish to proceed with caution….
“The arrival of an unknowable and apparently omniscient instrument, capable of altering reality, may trigger a resurgence in mystic religiosity. The potential for group obedience to an authority whose reasoning is largely inaccessible to its subjects has been seen from time to time in the history of man, perhaps most dramatically and recently in the 20th-century subjugation of whole masses of humanity under the slogan of ideologies on both sides of the political spectrum. A third way of knowing the world may emerge, one that is neither human reason nor faith. What becomes of democracy in such a world?”
As a result of this article, I’ve organized a response to navigating this new world. The points below are not in a particular order and were quickly created, thus may be refined later. Each bullet can be a course of its own, unique disciplines have evolved to address each one. It serves as a organizing feature (for me) as to how I might approach this terrain. Rather than freak out, my desire is to understand what a given situation is asking of me and identify optional approaches… so, lets read on:
Know yourself thoroughly. Once a clear and accurate relationship with the self is developed, expand from there to others. Self-observe mental habits, emotional defaults, physical traits (in other words- strengths and weaknesses).
Become an authority on yourself. Meaning, ‘learn your method’ of reasoning, intuition, motivation, creativity. Practice it, exercise it, jot it down, test it out so you know when its present, absent or someplace in between.
Practice navigating from free will. What does that mean? How to make decisions in the absence of a pull from one direction or another.
Use technology as a tool. Define its relationship (it organizes work but, for example, pen and paper is better to express creativity). Once the relationship becomes imbalanced (due to over-dependence, time consumption, skewed thoughts or emotions), find ways to step away.
Exercise discernment when identifying an illusion versus a reality. Current media is a way to practice, read different sources on the same topic, you might be surprised.
Develop faith that makes sense, personally. Is that communing with nature, sitting in silent contemplation, or embodying compassion towards self or other?
Quiet the mind. Practice meditation or mind-body practices which help unify the mind-body-spirit, listen to prior meditations or todays, find teachers who you enjoy their philosophy, their tone of voice, go on silent walks, gaze at the stars at night, sit and breathe (or practice pranayama).
While there are many positives this technology offers (research in biology, protein structure, etc.), I would like people to have tools to navigate this new landscape. My clinical practice reminds me how current technology can disturb sleep, worsen mood, distance relationships, reduce exercise (to name a few ways) and have other deleterious effects.
I’m all for using technology, however in the absence of wisdom, it’s concerning. A goal, in my opinion, is to remain steady and balanced in our ‘inner world’ because we still have our lives to live and fulfill. Listen to this meditation to help aid developing that stillness within.
Please feel free to share this with anyone you think this might help. As always, take care of yourself, become the change you wish to see in the world. SL
standing steady meditation