We Welcome You Our AI Overlords
That said, I am very suspicious of ChatCPT, which is a product of OpenAI. For those of you who are unfamiliar with this technology, what ChatCPT does is take a question or a statement such as "give me 1,000 words on the influence of pre-Socratic philosophy on 20th century philosophy" and it will generate an essay, in a matter of second on the topic you requested...Don't believe me, I have included, at the end of this post, ChatCPT's response to the very topic I mentioned above.
Now, given the fact that ChatCPT has already passed university-level Law and Business exams and will now be generating content for outlets such as BuzzFeed, we can see that this technology has already burrowed its way into academic and creative institutions. And once a technology gets going, especially a technology that encourages laziness, there is little one can do to stop it. The technology will only become more and more adept at creating content, passing written exams, and mimicking human creative endeavors such poetry, short stories, and, I'm sure someday, novels. Now, the creators of ChatCPT, OpenAI, say they are coming up with ways to combat AI-plagerism, but, as we know, for every solution a programmer comes up with to combat a software's vulnerability, there's someone out there finding ways around that solution to exploit the software for their own benefit. That's the way it's been since the dawn of software.
The question I would like to ask, for the purpose of this post, is how much of our humanity are we willing to cede to AI? As you'll see in the ChatCPT's response to my topic below the response is pretty good. It missed the length requirement, but the technology will only improve, and, once the AI gets good enough at solving linguistic and logical problems it will, no doubt, be used to develop other AIs. This is known as "the singularity." When that happens, AIs developing AIs we will not be able to control the outcome, and the consequences of that are unknown; but, that's another thought for another day.
We were created to be creative. We were imbued by God to be creative creatures that build cities, develop agriculture, write poetry, think theologically and philosophically, develop mathematics that allow us to explore the universe, write laws, create governments, and engage with one another in conversation and debate. Of course we are meant to do much much more, but you get the picture; the full exploration of our full humanity requires our full commitment and attention. When we start giving that up - and for what I ask - what do we become?
Over the years the evolution of technology has been both blessing and curse. There is no doubt that technology has connected us in creative and wonderful ways. It has opened up new vistas of creative and intellectual exploration unimaginable 20 years ago. We can meet from anywhere. We can learn from anywhere. We can pray from anywhere. We can worship from anywhere. The treasures of knowledge and connection are only a finger tap away. That said, for the most part, folks spend a majority of time on their tech watching videos with little to no meaning, doom scrolling on social media, engaging in conspiracy theories that are easily debunked, or watching pornography. It is safe to say that, because of algorithms that guide our searches - giving us the illusion of technological freedom - we have lost our digital free will so to speak. Now, with this new technology - ChatCPT - we will concede more and more of our digital free will...More and more of our creativity...And, consequently, more and more of our humanity. This technology will not free us to explore more demanding intellectual pursuits; it will seduce us to allow AI to think for us so that we can mindlessly scroll and apathetically watch.
I don't mean to be a downer, but I am concerned that we humans are compromising too much of our humanity as technology overtakes more and more of those things that made us human - not simply creativity but also struggle in thought. Using ChatCPT as an example - writing is hard; it's not fun. It takes time and effort. It's a slog most of the time and one rarely ever feels like the final product is ever good enough. From my own experience I can honestly say I have left most writing projects saying, "Egad that is awful." But I did it, and I always learn things when I write. And with every word that lumbers onto the page like some lame mutated beast I gain some insight into my own thinking process. If I decided one day to concede that to AI - allowing ChatCPT to write every post, every sermon, every reflection - I would cease to be fully human in my vocation as priest. That said, I cannot help but ask, how long before AI does a majority of the hard intellectual work that we humans used to take pride in?
God made us human to be human. God gave us the ability to create tools to help us live more fully into our humanity. However, it seems like we are on an out-of-control automatic walkway that is moving faster and faster toward a moment when the tools we create will no longer help us live into our humanity, but impede, and in some cases, devolve our humanity. How can we ensure this doesn't happen? Well, by using our minds. By continuing to write and struggle; by thinking about and wrestling with ideas. Universities might need to go to oral exams where people have to memorize facts and debate their ideas rather than write them down and submit them as a paper. We might need to reflect on how much of the computing power of our brains we want to relinquish to computers. How much of our memories do we want to give to our phones? How much of our time do we really want to pour into screens?
The simple question is: how human do we wish to be? If the answer is as human as possible then we need to start thinking in terms of what it means to live into our humanity. What does it mean to be human? What makes being human unique? To reflect on this question properly, I think we need to examine how we use our humanity and how we incorporate technology into that humanity so that we can be users of technology rather than creatures being used by technology.
I look forward to hearing your thoughts.
Peace+
ChatCPT Response:
The pre-Socratic philosophers, who lived in ancient Greece between the 7th and 5th centuries BCE, laid the foundations for Western philosophy. Their ideas and methods influenced the development of philosophy in the 20th century in a number of ways.
One of the most important pre-Socratic philosophers was Parmenides, who argued that reality is unchanging and eternal, and that the world of appearances is an illusion. This idea had a significant impact on 20th century philosophy, particularly on the work of philosophers such as Martin Heidegger and Jean-Paul Sartre, who emphasized the role of perception in shaping our understanding of reality.
Another pre-Socratic philosopher, Heraclitus, argued that reality is in a constant state of flux and that everything is in a state of change. This idea was taken up by 20th century philosophers such as Alfred North Whitehead and Henri Bergson, who emphasized the role of time and change in shaping our understanding of the world.
The pre-Socratic philosopher Democritus developed the theory of atoms, which proposed that matter is made up of indestructible, indivisible particles. This idea was taken up by 20th century philosophers such as Bertrand Russell and Ludwig Wittgenstein, who used it as a basis for their own theories of language and meaning.
The pre-Socratic philosopher Pythagoras, founder of the Pythagorean school, is often considered the first pure mathematician and his mathematical principles have been a major influence in the development of mathematics and natural sciences in the Western culture.
The pre-Socratic philosopher Protagoras, who argued that "man is the measure of all things," had a significant impact on the development of existentialism and pragmatism in the 20th century. His ideas were taken up by philosophers such as Friedrich Nietzsche and William James, who emphasized the role of the individual in shaping their own reality.
In summary, the pre-Socratic philosophers had a significant influence on the development of philosophy in the 20th century, particularly in the areas of metaphysics, epistemology, and the nature of reality. Their ideas and methods continue to be studied and debated to this day, and their legacy continues to shape the way we think about the world.
I agree with your ambivalent views on how technology is used in our society. I myself benefit greatly from Zoom, Facebook, and You Tube, as they have allowed me to attend the Christ Church worship services, spiritual discussion group, and evening compline from Arlington, VA. I would have a much-diminished spiritual life without this technological connection.
ReplyDeleteBut only one visit to the church in person showed me what I was missing. Screentime is flat in comparison. The quality of voices, the touch of people, just seeing them in their 3-dimensional presences was a much richer and more complex experience. It moved me in a different way.
I agree that we must not forget to use our minds as AI becomes more sophisticated and seems to better our own logical abilities, or our skills will atrophy. Look what calculators have done to us—or GPS technology. I’m forgetting how to read a map! And the wider context and positioning that a map affords us is gone when we merely follow orders.
But I do think that it will be a long time—if ever—that AI will create the embodied experience of being human. Our bodies hold our memories, our wounds, and the potential for healing through touch. Our senses bring the delight of the world and other people to us. They can help us to forget our egotistical selves as we pay attention to other bodies and the nature around us. Would we experience any emotions without our bodies? Why would God seek to embody the divine in the world as Jesus if embodiment didn’t matter?