Thriving in the age of AI — A human framework of thinking (Part 1)

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Lately I have been very curious about Artificial Intelligence, not obsessed mind you, but very curious. I’ve read Nexus by Yuval Noah Harari and The Next Wave by Mustafa Suleyman to get a broader understanding, historical perspective and thoughts on the future; most importantly it gave me some language to work with. ChatGTP has become my AI of choice and has helped me get my hands dirty (figuratively speaking), helped me understand how to collaborate with AI effectively and I’ve written some blogs to help solidify some of my thinking. Although my position has been that of great curiosity, I will admit there is a growing obsession with retaining our humanity or agency as this powerful tool continues to integrate into our institutions and everyday lives.

I quickly borrowed the language from Yuval Noah Harari and framed this a collaborative relationship between organics and inorganics. It’s a relationship where we’ve created something that has the capability to surpass us exponentially in terms of intellectual capacity and I’m trying to figure out how to collaborate without letting it do everything for me. I don’t spend much time even considering AI packaged with advanced robotics that have the capability to wander autonomously around in the physical world — I can’t get past how imperative it is to retain our agency without worrying about that.

So where does this leave us?

As Mustafa Suleyman stresses, Artificial Intelligence is not going away and is moving at such a pace that containment is impossible — even trying to regulate AI in the near term is an impossible feat. Those in power and able to regulate are still struggling with the impact of social media and definely lack the understanding to deal with this situation in the short term. There will be a revolution of sorts and not a meandering evolution where we have time to slowly adapt — this will be something we will have to manage in real time, will have to drastically adapt to with no blue print to follow, and will have a general lack of appreciation for the seismic change that will occur. This is moving so fast, it is best to focus on the here and now, iteratively finding our way; it will very difficult to say for sure what the future holds.

Maintaining our personal agency is what we have to tether ourselves to as we weather this storm — focusing on personal agency will allow for effective collaboration with AI, allow us to thrive in a world that is vastly different than what we knew even a generation ago, and will allow us to thrive in our humanity (or as I affectionately like to say, “In being organic.”)

My thinking will continue in three parts:

Part 1: Timeless framework for thriving — the following are foundational for strong personal agency, and the stronger the foundation, the easier it will be to thrive in an environment where AI is omni-present.

  1. Maintain Physical, Mental & Emotional Health

  2. Cultivate Creative & Personal Interests

  3. Build Community & Deep Relationships

  4. Pursue Deep Work & Original Contribution

  5. Diversify Your Growth Portfolio

Part 2: A framework for thriving in the presence of AI — I should mention this specifically refers to large language AI such as ChatGTP which allows for interaction but offers consideration for passive AI such as Google AI.

  1. Retain and Protect Personal Agency

  2. Develop Digital Literacy & Data Sovereignty

  3. Co-Create with AI Intentionally

  4. Master Fluid Communication with AI Systems

  5. Build Digital Assets That Provide Freedom

Part 3: The impact of AI stripping Personal Agency (or us surrendering it) — what would it look like if personal agency is surrendered to an interactive AI such as Chat GTP? You don’t burn out. You fade out. Still moving. Still scrolling. Still responding. But no longer self-directed — a character in your own zombie movie.

This blog, and the subsequent blogs I have outlined above, are actually part of my journey to thrive in the presence of AI, better understand the impact of AI, optimize my organic/inorganic relationship, and work through my goals over the next 5 years (Healthier, Weirder, Richer, more feral and more unpredictable).

In a humble way, I hope this offers insight as you make your way in this new organic/inorganic world.

More to come.

iamgpe