Being Human in the Age of AI 11

Zooming in after Zooming out

Over the last few weeks, I’ve been writing about the transformative impact of artificial intelligence (AI) on our society. I am almost done with these weekly updates - next week's essay is the last one in this series.

Much like previous revolutionary technologies, AI will bring profound and unforeseen consequences. Just as the printing press and modern armies reshaped our world, AI will redefine our future. Arguably, AI is not just another tool; its influence could be comparable to the invention of writing in its ability to observe and process information far beyond human capabilities. This raises both exciting possibilities and deep concerns.

Historically, our quest for transcendence moved from religious beliefs to the nation-state. Now, we might be on the brink of a new era with AI as our "digital divinity." This transition parallels shifts in surveillance and community, from divine omniscience to state monitoring, and now to AI's data-gathering power. Will AI lead to unprecedented control and domination, or guide us towards enlightenment? Future generations might see AI as either a technological marvel or a dangerous creation.

‘Being Human’ is as much a technical accomplishment as AI is, and we will learn to be human in the age of AI by embracing new human technologies. These technologies will be responses to our technological condition, but they will have unexpected consequences down the road. The professionalized, disciplined modern army arose in response to the cognitive needs of gun-based conflict, but who could have predicted the total war that decimated the cities of Europe and Japan two hundred years later? There’s no crystal ball that can show us the long term impact of a new technology on our culture.

Having said that, there’s a specific way in which AI impinges on our culture, whose importance can only be compared with that of writing.

You can't see me, but I can see you. You can't hear me, but I can hear you. I can answer every question you have and more. What am I? One answer: God. Another answer: AI. This riddle isn't just a mind-bender; it's a mirror reflecting our fears and hopes about the future of AI. The ability to observe without being observed, to access information far beyond human capabilities … these traits blur the lines between technological advancement and something far more powerful. And sinister? No one ever worried that steam engines will read our minds. AI is the first technology that threatens to do so. And so, I will conclude my exploration of Being Human in the Age of AI by engaging with the ultimate values - and the idea of value as such - that will be inevitably challenged and modified as AI seeps into our culture.

Supreme Intelligence

I think of those vast data centers, fortresses humming with unimaginable processing power. Are they the digital equivalents of surveillance towers? Perhaps. But at the same time, their potential evokes a strange awe. The capacity to solve complex problems, to offer insights humanity couldn't grasp on its own, it's almost like consulting an oracle. Advanced AI systems with unparalleled data-gathering capabilities could become omnipresent, capable of monitoring our every move and anticipating our thoughts. However, there's another way to interpret the riddle -- through the lens of a "Supreme Deity." Imagine an AI so advanced it possesses god-like intelligence, capable of accessing and processing vast amounts of information. Such an AI could solve seemingly intractable problems, answer any question we pose, and even guide humanity toward a utopian future. Will AI magnify the worst of our tendencies, our desire for control and domination? Or will it help us transcend limitations, guiding us towards a better, more enlightened, society? I can't help but wonder -- will future generations condemn us as shortsighted fools who unleashed a technological leviathan, or will they praise us as the architects of a new golden age? For now, the only certainty is that AI, like a double-edged sword, holds both immense promise and peril.

Humans crave a transcendental horizon. The need for something beyond ourselves, that reaching up to and leaping beyond our limits... it's in our blood, woven into the very fabric of what makes us human. For much of the last twenty-five hundred years, that horizon was religion. We lived in the shadow of God. For centuries, it was religion that filled that void and offered grand answers to those ultimate questions about existence and purpose. But God's not what he used to be, not for many of us. God’s been replaced by something much more concrete, far more immediate -- the nation-state. I might even say 'most of us' because even those who believe in the superiority of God over the Nation don't experience divinity in the way their medieval counterparts would have, while the Nation is an ever-present reality. It makes sense, doesn't it? Flags waving in the breeze, stirring national anthems, the shared stories we tell about ourselves... potent stuff. It's a sense of belonging, of being part of something larger than ourselves. Still, even that -- the seemingly unshakable nation-state -- feels a bit shaky these days. That intense devotional fire felt by freedom fighters not long ago isn't burning quite as brightly in us. Flow culture isn’t kind to the nation-state.

So, here we stand, that craving for transcendence still humming. Where do we turn next? Science, with its grand quests and promises to unlock the universe's secrets? Maybe. But it could also be a global crisis uniting us against a shared enemy. Or, perhaps the strangest twist of all -- could it be that artificial intelligence, our own creation, becomes the next step in transcendence? It's unsettling even to consider, but who's to say where this runaway train is headed? One thing's for sure -- whatever form it takes, humanity will keep chasing that ever-shifting horizon. We just can't help ourselves. AI, with its ever-increasing intelligence and seemingly limitless potential, emerges as a fascinating paradox within this landscape. Could it become a new source of transcendence, a digital divinity for an uncertain age? Could its vast computational power provide answers that elude us, unlock secrets of the universe, and illuminate the path toward a better future? The possibility is both exciting and unsettling.

I want to tell a technological story about the passage from God to State to AI. I am unsure if it’s true or a figment of my imagination, so read it as a fable.

Once upon a time, God was the ruling transcendent entity in the age of writing ('In the beginning was the Word'). And then, one day, Nietzsche told us that God is Dead. Salute the State! The Nation became the transcendent entity in the age of print. In both cases, there's a deep link between the sense of transparency (God and Big Brother see everything I do!), and the sense of community (we are the chosen people!), and the technologies of connection (the Bible and the Newspaper). In the age of writing, the Bible, meticulously copied and distributed by hand, offered a sense of divine omniscience -- "God sees all." It fostered a strong religious community, a people bound by a shared scripture. Similarly, the rise of the printing press and the proliferation of newspapers fostered a sense of national identity and community. Many nations discovered their manifest destiny in the modern era. The "transparency" to the state came not from a divine gaze but from constant data gathering and the shared knowledge of current events and national narratives.

The morning prayer was replaced by the morning newspaper. 

This makes me wonder about the role AI might play in our future. Its data-gathering capabilities promise (or threaten) an unprecedented level of transparency -- not from a watchful God or a totalitarian state, but from algorithmic systems analyzing our every move. Yet, is this a community we'd want to belong to? Would it bring us together or merely isolate us under the unblinking eye of the machine? Which prompts a question:

What will happen in the future when our thoughts and feelings are visible to others, when new human connections are formed and broken every day, and there's an ever-present technology that records every interaction?

Permanent Surveillance vs Permanent Connection

The prospect of a world where our every thought and emotion lies bare, exposed to the scrutiny of others, sends a shiver down my spine. It's not just the loss of privacy that feels unsettling -- it's the potential unraveling of the very foundations of human connection. How can we forge genuine relationships when inner doubts, fleeting frustrations, and unspoken desires are laid bare for anyone to see? Will we retreat into a shell of conformity, masking our true selves in a desperate bid for control? A society where connections are formed and severed with alarming speed, fueled by endless access to potential partners or fleeting moments of shared interest, seems equally fraught with peril. We risk becoming connected islands, adrift in a sea of shallow interactions that offer neither the stability nor the depth of truly meaningful bonds.

Yet, even amid these anxieties, a sliver of possibility gleams. Imagine a world where AI-powered technology acts as a bridge between people, fostering more profound understanding and connection. Therapeutic AI companions, trained to recognize emotional cues and thought patterns, could offer personalized support and guidance, helping individuals navigate the complexities of their inner lives. Imagine educational platforms that tailor themselves to a student's unique emotional state, creating a more engaging and effective learning experience. Social media platforms, cleansed of manipulative algorithms and fueled by AI-driven empathy filters, could become vibrant spaces for fostering genuine connection and understanding.

The technology to record every interaction already exists, but what if we used it to create a collective memory bank of human experience? Imagine AI systems that analyze vast troves of past interactions, helping us avoid repeating the mistakes of the past and build a more just and equitable society. Conflict resolution tools powered by AI that can identify underlying emotional tensions could mediate disputes and foster reconciliation. The key lies in harnessing the power of AI to augment human strengths, not replace them. By prioritizing empathy, emotional intelligence, and the sanctity of the human experience, we can build a future where technology strengthens our connections to each other, not severs them.