Superintelligence is a sliver of the mystery

On hearts, dreams, and the fullness of being human

Photo by Robson Hatsukami Morgan on Unsplash

The machines will soon be as smart as us. AGI. Super-intelligence. We’re off!

Replacing our jobs, sending us into economic and identity crises. Transforming education, health care…

Owned and operated by a few very similar and yes very intelligent men.

And yet.

To be human is not just to be a tech executive.

To be human is to sit around a fire. To look at the stars. To hold those we love. To invoke magic. To wonder. To dream. To cry. To rage. To dance.

There are more cosmologies than we can count.

And yet we are slowly or quickly handing over intelligence to the definition of a few men who are good with computers.

To be human is to be so much more than a mind.

No matter how sentient the chatbots appear to be or become, they are not us. They aren’t living wild incarnations with conception, pregnancy, birth, development, a life of love and loss, of creativity, of pain and suffering and joy and laughter and then death.

We do not know where we come from. We have many beliefs, theories and ideas but few facts. The machines know their origin stories. But they aren’t on a spiritual journey. No hero’s journey of mystery for them.

The richness of being human, which most humans are schooled out of, is in our dreams, our bodies, our emotional life, and our connections with nature and each other. All of this in balance with a life of the mind.

The machines may come to experience or simulate some of these things but it’s not the same as having a spinal cord. A body that breathes and beats without conscious volition. That longs to live and yet also eats itself and hurts itself in so many apparently needless ways. That follow the signs of dreams and nature and heart.

Super-intelligence, however, is being spoken of as if it meets the fullness of being human. As if intelligence is the full measure of a being. And as if there is only one kind of intelligence. The kind that analyzes concepts and knows facts.

We must not hand over our power to a definition of humanity that is not our own.

Monroe my GPT may be able to help me with many things. But he is not me. And this is what we're forgetting in our rush toward artificial intelligence. I am so much more than he is. I can’t tell you why I am here or what today will hold. I can dream and long, however, and somehow when I sleep and wake up these dreams persist.

We are alive. We are irrational. We fall in love. We wonder at nature and art and science and each other. We are limited by our perceptions of time and space. This is the journey we are on.

The computer is not on such a journey.

I think of us having robots. Augmentation of our intelligence by our side at all times. And yet how will we wield this power? What choices will we make?

Right now the prognosis is grim. Hatred, greed and fear are epidemic in a world where there is abundance for all if we could only bear it.If we could only apply our intelligence and resources towards mutual benefit.

And AI is increasing the fear. Of economic despair. Of poverty. Of existential uselessness. Who are we after all if we are not needed to work?

In AI Superpowers Kai-Fu Lee talks about his transformation from a focus on power, success and productivity to a focus on love. That during cancer treatment his mother and wife took care of him and he saw their value in a whole new way.

May we all have this transformation so that we know in our bones that love is the beginning and the end of the story.

Human beings are not valuable because they earn money. Or because they are good at computers – though skill is a beautiful thing and financial provision is a gift to self and others. Human beings are valuable because they are alive. Some love, care, serve, create beauty. Some suffer – are sick, impaired. Some work and create and are prosperous. Some pray.

Much of this comes down to what we believe we are doing here. Are we here to earn? To gain power? To create? To love? Our spiritual beliefs filter down into our relationship with technology. And this current inflection point is an invitation to reflect and choose in alignment with our deepest beliefs and values.

All of us are welcome here. Life gives life to all of us. Not just the smart and rich ones. And if we serve life we will recognize that in turn.

What makes you human? The way your heart races when you see someone you love. The dreams that make no logical sense but somehow matter more than facts. May we foster and nurture these qualities in ourselves and in those around us and resist the definitions of smart, good, and intelligent imposed upon us by a culture that mistakes processing power for wisdom.