Who is the all-knowing Oracle? Part 2
You, me or AI?
Before Christmas I wrote part one of this essay, after which I slid down a slide of social gatherings, dinners and holiday festivities, which - introvert’s classic - transformed my end-of-year fatigue into end-of-year flu. Whilst in bed for a week, I zoomed out to see that last year was a good one. Not the least because ChatGPT came online and the AI-hype spiked. I knew that what I’d been working on for the past six years would come full bloom. And it did. Speaking and consultancy requests continue to flow into my inbox, and I’m quite sure that this will be another crazy year for AI. It’s overwhelming to stay in the loop about all the new developments. And I don’t see it as my role to know everything, that’s up to the journalists and tech-reporters. There’s a gazillion newsletters that will keep you in the loop. My focus is more on:
guiding AI with grace (AI ethics and all it takes to become the required gracious humans our future needs) and;
designing gracious AI, and I will be working this year on actual tool developments!
It’s not about ethics
My focus with this newsletter and in my talks, workshops, etc. will remain on how we can turn AI into NI, a gracious Natural Intelligence. The facade of this is AI ethics. But I’m of the opinion that AI ethics is only the first step. To make sure we’re not wiped out by AI we need to have ethics in place, yes. But beyond ethics, there is the opportunity of gracious, natural intelligence. This is what’s coming, the next wave of AI. This AI is not human but nature-centered. It’s promise is to facilitate a flourishing connection between us, our planet, and all its species. It’s a technology indistinguishable from nature that can help us regenerate the planet and let our industries operate as circular, decentralised, regenerative systems that create synarchy between humans, animals, plants, bacteria, and really all other beings, including technology.
Within the Gracious AI ecosystem we see what’s coming before it’s coming. And with this newsletter I will explore the many aspects of pulling this future into the present. I will not do this alone. Last year I already recorded the first podcast episodes of Gracious AI Radio, interviews with AI ethics pioneers, who touch upon the potential of AI in it’s most gracious forms, as well as the risks we face on the way. With this newsletter I will continue to weave these stories together, forming a web of ecology, technology, spirituality and somatics.
Speaking of essays, let’s continue where we left off in the last post: Who is the all-knowing oracle Oracle part 1, you me or AI? I left you with a few questions and the promise to give you a practical framework to prevent your oracular capacities from numbing down, which would put you at the mercy of whatever Robot Overlord you let claim its seat. Let’s first bring these questions back and then dive into the framework.
What if
What if we are the all-knowing Oracle?
What if AI is just a pastime until we fully embody our oracular capacity?
What if we had the opportunity to deploy AI only for the dirty, dull, and dangerous jobs?
What if we use that extra spacetime to nurture our capacity for the dear and the difficult, and can slowly become conscious enough to embody our oracular capacities, live with a gracious ethical compass, and become the gracious agents our future needs?
Dirty, Dull, Dangerous, Difficult and Dear
In robotics and machine learning, there’s a saying that machines can help take over the dirty, dull, dangerous, dirty, difficult, and dear tasks from humans. But let me bring some nuance into this, with the helping hand of the Hollywood classic: Good Will Hunting.
Good Will Hunting’s main character is Will. Will is a very, very smart kid, an autodidact mathematical genius, who seems to have no ambition to do anything remarkable in life. As an MIT janitor, he is one day caught by a mathematics professor whilst solving a highly advanced formula, and this is where his hero’s journey starts. It’s a journey that we can compare to the hero’s journey AI still has to make. Will is, like AI nowadays, intellectually advanced and knowledgable. But, in a classic scene, his therapist Dr. Sean Maguire (a role Robbin Williams won an oscar for), states very clearly how he is just a kid, without life-experience, without felt experience. He shows him how his detached rational intellect can do harm, and where is it limited - just like AI can do much harm today, and is so so limited.
“So if I asked you about art, you’d probably give me the skinny on every art book ever written. Michelangelo, you know a lot about him. Life’s work, political aspirations, him and the Pope, sexual orientations, the whole works, right? But I’ll bet you can’t tell me what it smells like in the Sistine Chapel. You’ve never actually stood there and looked up at that beautiful ceiling; seen that. If I ask you about women, you’d probably give me a syllabus about your personal favorites. You may have even been laid a few times. But you can’t tell me what it feels like to wake up next to a woman and feel truly happy. You’re a tough kid. And I’d ask you about war, you’d probably throw Shakespeare at me, right, “once more unto the breach dear friends.” But you’ve never been near one. You’ve never held your best friend’s head in your lap, watched him gasp his last breath looking to you for help. I’d ask you about love: you’d probably quote me a sonnet. But you’ve never looked at a woman and been totally vulnerable. Known someone that could level you with her eyes, feeling like God put an angel on earth just for you. Who could rescue you from the depths of hell. And you wouldn’t know what it’s like to be her angel, to have that love for her, be there forever, through anything, through cancer. And you wouldn’t know about sleeping sitting up in the hospital room for two months, holding her hand, because the doctors could see in your eyes, that the terms “visiting hours” don’t apply to you. You don’t know about real loss, ’cause it only occurs when you’ve loved something more than you love yourself. And I doubt you’ve ever dared to love anybody that much. And look at you . . . I don’t see an intelligent, confident man . . . I see a cocky, scared-shitless kid. But you’re a genius Will. No one denies that. No one could possibly understand the depths of you. But you presume to know everything about me because you saw a painting of mine, and you ripped my fucking life apart. You’re an orphan right? [Will nods] You think I know the first thing about how hard your life has been, how you feel, who you are, because I read Oliver Twist? Does that encapsulate you? Personally . . . I don’t give a shit about all that, because, you know what, I can’t learn anything from you that I can’t read in some fuckin’ book. Unless you want to talk about you, who you are. Then I’m fascinated. I’m in. But you don’t want to do that do you, sport? You’re terrified of what you might say.”
In the discussion around AI we have to talk about the various forms of intelligences that exist, rational intelligence being only one of them. AI is just a kid, and no amount of data (i.e. book reading) will make up for its lack of felt experience. It’s these qualities: emotion, empathy, social and spiritual interactions, that make us truly human, and that will make us the directors of AI doing jobs for us, rather than the players in the AI’s script. When we think to outsource the dull, dangerous, dirty, difficult, and dear tasks to AI, we have to be aware of this.
Outsourcing the dirty
Will has two ‘dirty’ jobs. He works as a janitor mopping the hallways of MIT, and as a construction worker. Much of this dirty work now done by humans, can soon or already be done by machines. AI is very proficient in handling tasks involving dirt and contamination, autonomous systems with sensors and machine learning algorithms can efficiently navigate and manage these jobs, freeing the hands and minds of those currently working in what can be hazardous and polluted environments. From being the player in the game, they could turn into the conductor of it. Not entirely in the dirt, but directing and coordinating the machines that do the dirty work. Imagine being a sewage worker and having to work your way through a fatball that clogs the London sewage system, I am sure you have no objection to AI doing this work for them. Nor do I.
Outsourcing the dull
Then there are dull jobs that AI can take over, the automation of repetitive tasks, the mundane responsibilities, the boring and brain-killing. Herewith, theoretically, AI could allow us to focus on more stimulating endeavors. We all know the drill of dull household tasks. The tasks that just have to be done and repeated over and over again. Machines already took over the laundry, the dishes, the dusting, the lawn mowing. And in the future this could extend to doing just about everything to optimize an ‘efficient’ household. But if you ask me, some of these dull tasks also give me the time to process my day and unwind, to create the space do some more exciting taks after. When it comes to the dull tasks, AI can replace some routine tasks, but overall we would have to think in terms of human-AI collaboration here. Outsourcing the dull to AI? Not entirely, we are better off designing AI systems to complement human skills, rather than replacing them, providing support in areas where automation is feasible and allowing humans to focus on tasks that require creativity, critical thinking, oracular and emotional intelligence.
Outsourcing the dangerous
Then, the dangerous. In dangerous conditions such as firefighting or rescue operations, AI-enabled robots and drones have showcased their ability to navigate perilous terrains, reducing the risk to human lives. Here the same principle is in place. We ought to never lose the ‘human touch’ and let the AI make decisions in literal dangerous territory. Situations of concern can be found in war, and I’m quoting from an in-depth article on this: (…) When these are concerns with military decisions, particularly those about lethal force, humans should be involved (“in the loop”); for instance, humans may know additional reasons that the AI does not as to why civilians are more likely to appear in a combat zone. Teams of carefully selected humans could also provide more diversity of points of view than AI could. AI could then serve an advisory role, recommending courses of action that could be overruled by human superiors. Many battle-management systems using AI are like this today. Outsourcing the dangerous to AI, not entirely.
Outsourcing the difficult
While AI excels in routine and rule-based tasks, it faces challenges in handling the difficult; the nuanced and complex situations that require creativity, critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and a deep understanding of context. Here too we have to question if we really want to outsource the difficult, or collaborate intelligently with AI on the difficult instead? Our brains need to be challenged with the difficult to stay vital, and neurologically ‘plastic’. Neuroplasticity refers to the brain's ability to reorganize and adapt by forming new neural connections throughout life. Engaging in challenging and stimulating activities can positively impact neuroplasticity, promoting the growth and development of neural networks. In apps like Duolingo we see this at play. I’m currently learning Italiono as I’m moving to Rome this year for my PhD. Collaborating with Duolingo’s AI, I receive an intelligently designed learning environment (it could be much better by the way) where the algorithm analyzes my learning to give personalized suggestions. Outsourcing the difficult is a no-go. But collaborating on the difficult, yes.
Outsourcing the dear
Oh dear, is that clear. Matters dear to our hearts, of personal significance, of love should never, ever be outsourced to machines. Decisions like ‘am I going to take the red pill, or the blue pill?’ for instance. Matters such as healthcare decisions, education, and interpersonal relationships. Matters involving empathy, deep understanding, intuition, and ethical judgment, we can never leave to AI. Relying on AI as the all-knowing Oracle in these areas may risk dehumanizing essential aspects of ourselves, aspects that give meaning and connect us to our hearts and to grace—the unknown and mysterious force of nature. Aspects that make us conduits of the all-knowing universe. Aspects that make us the Oracle.
In what is the final scene of Good Will Hunting (spoiler alert), Will has come full circle. He gives priority to a matter dear to him, someone close to his heart, over fulfilling a smart-kid’s role at some think tank. He goes to see ‘about a girl’, face the thing he finds scariest of all: feeling. Something he can’t show up for with his rational intellect, but only with his humility. And this is where we can see what has to come from us, humans, in this AI endavor. Remember, AI is just a gifted kid. It has a long way to go in its hero’s journey. And just like Will, its gift takes a lot of maturity and emotional balance to use effectively, which has to come from us.
Cultivating gracious agency in the age of AI
Only by committing to the messages and maxims of the Oracles throughout the ages, to know ourselves, to clarify and embody the ethics we stand by, to cultivate gracious agency, a rich and deep sense of empathy, sovereignty and intuition, can we guide AI with grace. Only then we can take gracious decisions about when to delegate tasks to AI and when human intuition, empathy, and reasoning must take precedence. Let’s make sure that AI serves humanity rather than dictating its course. Only then can we shape a future where technology enhances, rather than replaces, the essence of the human experience.
The all-knowing Oracle, two possible futures
It is hard to see the impact of today’s decision making on tomorrow’s technologies. But if we extrapolate it into the future, it all becomes much clearer.
I want to offer you the distinctive difference between the well-known Neuralink of Elon Musk, a chip implanted into your brain, overwriting certain bodily and mental functions to get access to an ‘all-knowing AI’ at your fingertips. And a more gracious alternative. A ring or headpiece, when placed on your head, offers you the opportunity to have access to the information of all AI’s combined. But when you take it off, it’s you. Your intuition, your knowing, your bodily sovereignty intact. And one day, you will not even need the wearable, as you have dedicated spacetime to embodying your natural oracular abilities fully.
What would you choose?
I couldn’t stop myself from designing a prototype of this speculative AI-ring as a wearable that elegantly elevates the wearer. In the future, this could be just another way to express your individuality and your unique culture, to confirm your deep intuition and your connection to nature, while surfing the waves of AI graciously.
Thank you for joining the ride.
♡ Lisanne
PS: forgive me, no voiceover this time as my voice is still a bit hoarse from the cold I caught :)