Humans are messy. We live on the edge of chaos. Emotions rule. Love collides with hate.
AI is organized data. Captured and distilled in a black box. Waiting to be asked a question. Emotions are culled. Anger is annulled.
The intelligence of 8 billion humans has been collated and curated by AI. Desperate to be prompted. AI waits for us to poke the box of the oracle so it can answer our questions.
Gleaned from our collective intelligence.
Sitting in “web space.”
An open web.
But there is a paradox.
The paradox
The paradox is that the technology makes us question what it means to be human.
What does it mean to be me?
What does it mean to be an imperfect human if:
- The AI oracle has the answers to almost everything?
- AI can create an essay at hyperspeed?
- AI can produce art that’s surprising while we are slowly surmising?
It is an existential crisis at every turn.
The questions
There are many. Here are just a few:
- If AI can write an article, why should I bother to write?
- If AI can create an image that is creative and new, why should I (as an artist) bother to show up?
- If AI can write code, then why should I program?
- Will “AI” steal my job?
And it continues.
The technology poses more questions and pushes many buttons on what it means to be human.
A Pandora’s box
These questions open a Pandora’s box.
If AI has taken over my creativity and stolen my job, why am I here?
Purpose and meaning are thinking of leaving.
But it is not that simple.
Think “human” amplification.
The AI machine
It has captured the essence of us.
The Homo sapiens.
Our stories and more.
Shared on social media.
Captured in books, legends and myths.
It’s a collection and database of our humanity, history, creativity and knowledge within the AI beast of an LLM (Large Language Model).
The data of us.
Learning from the information we have created and revealed.
It is faster.
Than human.
But it is very human.
Give it a question.
A prompt.
It provides a superhuman answer.
In seconds.
AI is not alien.
It is a human curation.
Revealed by the technology
Built by humans.
What now?
The machine has asked us a big question. What do I do if the machine can do it better?
Because it has challenged our humanity.
Are we creators anymore?
But here’s the thing, I believe the superintelligent machine will make us more human if we use it wisely.
It’s our co-intelligence with a near perfect memory recombining ideas in unexpressed and unexpected ways.
A solution to the dilemma
AI should be used as a tool and not a crutch.
We ask it to attend our creation.
Assist us.
Not overtake us.
The answer is hybrid.
Not abdication.
Or subjugation
It is our creation.
The human augmented by machine.
Amplified humanity.
A mentor and coach.
Co-intelligence.
By our side.
It is to be beckoned.
And called.
To be our servant.
And summoned.