It's an interesting idea, if with automation we reach to a level where a model, or similar can answer everything, how will this change the dynamics at work, in life in general.
Perhaps, not sure. But companies exist to profit, and anything that can lower their expenses is worth trying, since competitors might be doing the same. In this essay I tried to explore what will be of us, if the answers are already there by default?
I like the episode you wrote about trusting Google Maps instead of the signs right there. In essence I believe this happens with most of us, we believe more on our phones that what reality put out there. Something is happening to us.
I sometimes wonder, what happened to us in these 20 plus odd years? I remember the effort to go and search for an answer, not a fully one, ready made, but one that we had to research, speak about, listen to others, to form our own ideas. I feel the moment we delegate this critical skill, it's like the action of putting stuff in a micro wave.
Interesting post. I struggle with that same thought myself. I use AI every day, but I do not outsource my judgment to it. I will ask for recommendations and discuss risks, but the ownership of the decision remains mine. Learn the fundamentals of decision making and whatever tool you use will work. We are all influenced by something, but we can't outsource responsibility. At least that is my take on it.
Yes, it’s an interesting idea, and indeed we cannot outsource responsibility, accountability and being the author of our journey. There’s no issue in using technology to help us. But sometimes I wonder if I want to leave a legacy, and if all is generated by a chatbot, how can I claim authorship. And when it comes to the topic of this essay I wrote, having something that can give us all the answers…, I still don’t know exactly how it will impact us…
Hey Diamantino. At almost 50 years of age, and a former graduate student of linguistics and literature who is married to a college professor, these topics make my head spin. First off, AMAZING essay you wrote. Your tone in my opinion is ideal - neutral, non-combative, rich in information and perspective and exploratory. Really, really great writing sample. The TINY piece I want to add to this discuss that in no way counts as "thought leadership" (because in all integrity, that is not what I do with my work), is that we humans have this weird tendency to PURITY. Let me share what I mean. We tend to look backwards and say "Is this new thing today somehow corrupting what we have now? and how will this new thing affect the future?" I glance at the internet from time to time and I notice the same things you do: seems like folks are giving up their nature/God-given/biological right to author their own work. Seems like there are a million pit falls. Do you know why the car was invented by Henry Ford? It was not to create a mass transit vehicle which would later lead to the construction of roads all over the world. It was because of horse poop. Yup. There were WAY too many horses dropping horse poop all over the place and Mr. Ford was like this just cannot keep going this way. It's a public health hazard and we need a means of conveyance that will change that dynamic. My point is, I suppose, that the authorship problems of AI have posed an AMBIGUITY problem to the human race in an era where computers, software and cellphones tell the human mind that CERTAINTY is an ever-present and desireable possibility. Do we grapple with the AI issue as nations? As companies? Or do we grapple with AI in and of ourselves as individual humans engaging with the platforms? If I knew the answer to all that, then maybe I would be sharing it with a big crowd of people to help them find some answers and feel better about all this, but the truth is, I don't rightly know. Personally, I am LESS interested in the discussion around "What will technology do to schools, colleges, and companies?" because human beings have always committed fraud and malfeasance and cheated at times. Dishonesty is as baked into the human condition as honesty and virtue. What I am personally interested in is how humanity grapples with this new form of AMBIGUITY in the face of a planet that is already riddled with governmental and political issues, economic issues, social justice issues.... In other words, how will people, collectively, address that gnawing feeling inside themselves that says "Just what the Bleep does all this AI stuff even MEAN for the human race as a whole?" Who knows, Diamantino? Maybe leaders like you will drive that question forward and assemble people around a more unified answering of it. A sort of 21st Century Techno-Humanistic Forum of sorts that brings together Next Gen leaders to ask the tough questions that border on the intellectual, the spiritual and the psychological as well as the academic/intellectual all the the same time. I think even Socrates or Plato would be daunted by these questions, if we could resurrect them and bring them back into our world today to witness what is going on. I Just wanted to stop by and say Hello. Your piece was SPECTACULAR. A++++. Great job, D. Keep it up. -Pick :)
To try to answer your question, "...what all this stuff even means to the human race as a whole..."
What a few are trying to achieve is a Uber Human, a sort of divinity, a powerful oracle, us on steroids. The belief that the brain only matters.
For the rest of the world, maybe this doesn't mean a thing. Half the population don't even have access to the internet.
And AI a field of study created to help humanity tackle serious problems is now being used for marketing purposes, a different way to capture our attention, if we accept the type of usage most push on us.
I believe this tech has serious potentials in helping us tackle some problems to see alternative outcomes to help design and develop solutions. We don't need mega factories, mega datacenters or even big tech in general. What we need is to grant anyone the access to this and see what can we discover...for better or worst.
You have pointed out some important topics. For one, I sometimes believe that we are somehow fascinated with ourselves, at least a few, we are trying to get answers by mimicking some part of our brain, the belief that a human mind can solve everything, we might, but the fascination that AI will be our saviour feels that might be our own demise, if we keep using it has a proxy for truth, for our answers.
I don't believe we need to put a human mind in a chip to get "intelligence", we already have billions of minds that brings it already. We need is time to fix our mistakes, remove barriers, mutual respect, for example. If we continue do engineer tools to be like us, we will only find what we already know, us.
What really stood out to me was that we need time to fix our mistakes. And how a lot of tech seems to be engineered outward but then it points back to aspects of us we are always exploring. Thanks for your thoughtful replies, D, and for leading the conversation. It's an important one for sure. Appreciate it. Hope you have a great day ahead today on your many adventures. 👊
For sure, we need time, even to rest. I fear sometimes some companies in tech are acting like vacuum cleaners, just extract things up at all times. I read somewhere that we spend decades giving our answers for free, creating communities, using technology, now technology is selling back that same info that we shared in the past for free. I don't think this is innovation.
Diamantino, this is a long and winding thought road, and thank you for sharing (for nothing). I think back to school when some teachers asked for the answer and others asked us to show our work. Emphasizing the former leaves us open to taking the easy path, regardless of whether it is correct, if presented with enough confidence. Upon hearing this prompt and confident answer, those of us who never had to show our work (or valued thoroughly understanding how things work), will accept it with equal confidence. Whether the correct or incorrect answer, we confidently accept it.
Getting the answer is somewhat easy, but show how you get there, that requires a bit more articulation. And we might lose this ability soon if we continue to just search for answers…
I imagine what would happen if we stop our quest for convenience, and spend time trying to know how to get to the answer. After all the answer I get might not be suitable for me, but can be for you. So this also made me wonder if having the "answer" is subjective. Either way this universe is always surprising us...and I find this comfortable.
It's like a muscle. Most of s are looking for an answer, but we need to understand the answer before it has meaning to us. And that requires critical thinking, even questioning ourselves.
It's an interesting idea, if with automation we reach to a level where a model, or similar can answer everything, how will this change the dynamics at work, in life in general.
So the race for chatbots from companies is that want something to give them all the answers, meaning we humans no longer provide such thing?
Perhaps, not sure. But companies exist to profit, and anything that can lower their expenses is worth trying, since competitors might be doing the same. In this essay I tried to explore what will be of us, if the answers are already there by default?
I like the episode you wrote about trusting Google Maps instead of the signs right there. In essence I believe this happens with most of us, we believe more on our phones that what reality put out there. Something is happening to us.
I sometimes wonder, what happened to us in these 20 plus odd years? I remember the effort to go and search for an answer, not a fully one, ready made, but one that we had to research, speak about, listen to others, to form our own ideas. I feel the moment we delegate this critical skill, it's like the action of putting stuff in a micro wave.
I express on another publication something similar to this;
I think we should ask ourselves what it means if a machine finally becomes smarter than humans have all the answers.
What does that say about us? Are we too inflated in our view of our own intelligence?
Could this vision be narrowing other opportunities? Why center so much effort on creating something that is already here, us?
Also don't you feel that somehow we are being pushed to adopt something that could not benefit us?
Interesting post. I struggle with that same thought myself. I use AI every day, but I do not outsource my judgment to it. I will ask for recommendations and discuss risks, but the ownership of the decision remains mine. Learn the fundamentals of decision making and whatever tool you use will work. We are all influenced by something, but we can't outsource responsibility. At least that is my take on it.
Yes, it’s an interesting idea, and indeed we cannot outsource responsibility, accountability and being the author of our journey. There’s no issue in using technology to help us. But sometimes I wonder if I want to leave a legacy, and if all is generated by a chatbot, how can I claim authorship. And when it comes to the topic of this essay I wrote, having something that can give us all the answers…, I still don’t know exactly how it will impact us…
Hey Diamantino. At almost 50 years of age, and a former graduate student of linguistics and literature who is married to a college professor, these topics make my head spin. First off, AMAZING essay you wrote. Your tone in my opinion is ideal - neutral, non-combative, rich in information and perspective and exploratory. Really, really great writing sample. The TINY piece I want to add to this discuss that in no way counts as "thought leadership" (because in all integrity, that is not what I do with my work), is that we humans have this weird tendency to PURITY. Let me share what I mean. We tend to look backwards and say "Is this new thing today somehow corrupting what we have now? and how will this new thing affect the future?" I glance at the internet from time to time and I notice the same things you do: seems like folks are giving up their nature/God-given/biological right to author their own work. Seems like there are a million pit falls. Do you know why the car was invented by Henry Ford? It was not to create a mass transit vehicle which would later lead to the construction of roads all over the world. It was because of horse poop. Yup. There were WAY too many horses dropping horse poop all over the place and Mr. Ford was like this just cannot keep going this way. It's a public health hazard and we need a means of conveyance that will change that dynamic. My point is, I suppose, that the authorship problems of AI have posed an AMBIGUITY problem to the human race in an era where computers, software and cellphones tell the human mind that CERTAINTY is an ever-present and desireable possibility. Do we grapple with the AI issue as nations? As companies? Or do we grapple with AI in and of ourselves as individual humans engaging with the platforms? If I knew the answer to all that, then maybe I would be sharing it with a big crowd of people to help them find some answers and feel better about all this, but the truth is, I don't rightly know. Personally, I am LESS interested in the discussion around "What will technology do to schools, colleges, and companies?" because human beings have always committed fraud and malfeasance and cheated at times. Dishonesty is as baked into the human condition as honesty and virtue. What I am personally interested in is how humanity grapples with this new form of AMBIGUITY in the face of a planet that is already riddled with governmental and political issues, economic issues, social justice issues.... In other words, how will people, collectively, address that gnawing feeling inside themselves that says "Just what the Bleep does all this AI stuff even MEAN for the human race as a whole?" Who knows, Diamantino? Maybe leaders like you will drive that question forward and assemble people around a more unified answering of it. A sort of 21st Century Techno-Humanistic Forum of sorts that brings together Next Gen leaders to ask the tough questions that border on the intellectual, the spiritual and the psychological as well as the academic/intellectual all the the same time. I think even Socrates or Plato would be daunted by these questions, if we could resurrect them and bring them back into our world today to witness what is going on. I Just wanted to stop by and say Hello. Your piece was SPECTACULAR. A++++. Great job, D. Keep it up. -Pick :)
To try to answer your question, "...what all this stuff even means to the human race as a whole..."
What a few are trying to achieve is a Uber Human, a sort of divinity, a powerful oracle, us on steroids. The belief that the brain only matters.
For the rest of the world, maybe this doesn't mean a thing. Half the population don't even have access to the internet.
And AI a field of study created to help humanity tackle serious problems is now being used for marketing purposes, a different way to capture our attention, if we accept the type of usage most push on us.
I believe this tech has serious potentials in helping us tackle some problems to see alternative outcomes to help design and develop solutions. We don't need mega factories, mega datacenters or even big tech in general. What we need is to grant anyone the access to this and see what can we discover...for better or worst.
You have pointed out some important topics. For one, I sometimes believe that we are somehow fascinated with ourselves, at least a few, we are trying to get answers by mimicking some part of our brain, the belief that a human mind can solve everything, we might, but the fascination that AI will be our saviour feels that might be our own demise, if we keep using it has a proxy for truth, for our answers.
I don't believe we need to put a human mind in a chip to get "intelligence", we already have billions of minds that brings it already. We need is time to fix our mistakes, remove barriers, mutual respect, for example. If we continue do engineer tools to be like us, we will only find what we already know, us.
What really stood out to me was that we need time to fix our mistakes. And how a lot of tech seems to be engineered outward but then it points back to aspects of us we are always exploring. Thanks for your thoughtful replies, D, and for leading the conversation. It's an important one for sure. Appreciate it. Hope you have a great day ahead today on your many adventures. 👊
For sure, we need time, even to rest. I fear sometimes some companies in tech are acting like vacuum cleaners, just extract things up at all times. I read somewhere that we spend decades giving our answers for free, creating communities, using technology, now technology is selling back that same info that we shared in the past for free. I don't think this is innovation.
Hi Justin. Long time no see. Hope all is well with you.
Let me read your comment..
In regards to AI.
I had to change the mode from advisory mode to simulation mode. I was getting bored with so much suggestions aka answers.
Diamantino, this is a long and winding thought road, and thank you for sharing (for nothing). I think back to school when some teachers asked for the answer and others asked us to show our work. Emphasizing the former leaves us open to taking the easy path, regardless of whether it is correct, if presented with enough confidence. Upon hearing this prompt and confident answer, those of us who never had to show our work (or valued thoroughly understanding how things work), will accept it with equal confidence. Whether the correct or incorrect answer, we confidently accept it.
Thanks for the journey.
Getting the answer is somewhat easy, but show how you get there, that requires a bit more articulation. And we might lose this ability soon if we continue to just search for answers…
Can you imagine if one day we have this super computer that can answer everything we drop to it?
I imagine what would happen if we stop our quest for convenience, and spend time trying to know how to get to the answer. After all the answer I get might not be suitable for me, but can be for you. So this also made me wonder if having the "answer" is subjective. Either way this universe is always surprising us...and I find this comfortable.
I think there's a movie about that and the answers was 42.
You raise a great point the idea on "how did you get to that answer".
If you don't want to use your brain you will lose it, and today because most don't use their brain, we see a society that is losing it...
It's like a muscle. Most of s are looking for an answer, but we need to understand the answer before it has meaning to us. And that requires critical thinking, even questioning ourselves.
This essay asked who you are without the answer.
Today the practice arrives in your inbox.
Or check it here:
https://diamantinoalmeida.substack.com/p/the-question-you-ask-before-the-answer?r=2comvl&utm_campaign=post&utm_medium=web&showWelcomeOnShare=true