What do you think is the future of AI?
Nobody knows the future of AI. I guess it depends on how we use it, and how aware we are of it.
When I saw this prompt early in the morning, my first thought went to a famous quote: “Whether you think you can, or you think you can’t, you’re right.” It is often credited to Henry Ford, though there is no solid proof he said it.
Still, I guess it fits this scenario.
Are we as powerless as we think?
We often think about how little power we humans have, because our society is becoming more and more complex. But are we really as powerless as we think? Or do we choose to be?
How one thing takes over another
There is no answer yet to how AI will change our societies. How it will affect our way of being human, the job market, the economy, everything. The mechanisms in society are so complex. One thing takes over another, and then a third.
But the systems thinker Donella Meadows saw something hopeful in this. 👉 In a complex system, a small shift in one place can change everything. And the strongest shift of all is in how we think.
So where is it taking us?
And maybe it helps to remember where it all began. 👉 AI was born at a small summer gathering of scientists in 1956. Seventy years later, it sits in our pockets.
Awareness is the key
I guess it depends on how we use it. And how aware we are of it.
Awareness is the key here. But awareness only matters when it lands in a choice. What we look at. When we put the phone down. What we hand over to a machine, and what we keep for ourselves.
I notice it in my own body. After too much scrolling, my breath gets shallow and my head feels full and scattered. So I close the screen and go for a walk in the forest, or I just do some crazy shaking. That helps me connect with my breath, and my breath brings me back to my body. And it makes me aware of one thing: our attention is not what it used to be, is it?
But maybe that has less to do with AI and more to do with what came before it.
When social media arrived, how did it shape our focus? Everywhere I look, I see videos. I see how much people need to show what they have and what they can do. So much of our humanity, our longing to be seen, is pouring out through those screens.
Maybe AI is simply the next mirror.
Mo Gawdat’s answer
And the funny thing is, I did not write any of this down this morning. I had too many other things to do today. Then I opened Facebook, and suddenly a post popped up. An interview I had seen years ago with Mohammad “Mo” Gawdat, the former Chief Business Officer at Google X and author of the book Scary Smart about the future of AI. I loved that interview, because he spoke so clearly about the ways it can affect us.
So I am sharing my short answer, and I am adding his, because he sees a much bigger picture than I do.
👉 Watch Mo Gawdat’s answer here
So I ask you…
Do you believe you have a say in where this is going?
And where is your attention right now, as you read this? 🌾
I am Parisa Radpey, the writer of these pages and founder of Dhyana Donya Movement & Health. You can read more about me here my background.
Some patterns can’t be thought through. Only walked through. Curious what I mean? It is in my book The Silver Route — now on Amazon.
How do I work with people? Read Free guide
I would love to understand the people I am creating this work for a little better. If you have a few minutes, take my short survey here — it truly helps me understand the needs of real people and what they face on their journey, so I can shape my work around what I hear, rather than simply assuming what might be needed.
You can also find me across social platforms, or let my Spotify playlist move what words can’t. And if you want more, I also write for Wise and Shine Zine, and my latest blog post is called Listening to the Heart: The Story Behind Lau Suna.