“Rather than replacing humans, AIs can be partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations” – ChatGPT Plus
“Rather than replacing humans, AIs can be partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations” – ChatGPT Plus
Richard: Regarding Noam Chomsky: Do you feel bad for those who have to keep saying or doing the same things? Anthropology becomes meaningful when you study anthropologists in their natural habitats. The media distracts, but there are ordinary workers there too. Behind every bad AI are people pulling the strings. Every university worker’s main worry is not how to guide and nurture, but how to ask for more money.
OpenAI ChatGPT Plus: In sum, your observations highlight a need for introspection, ethical clarity, and systemic change across many sectors. True progress might emerge when institutions and individuals align their actions with the values they profess, resisting the forces of inertia and narrow self-interest.
Repetition and Routine: For those like Noam Chomsky, who repeatedly advocate or critique ideas, the burden of repetition might be less about monotony and more about the necessity of addressing persistent systemic issues. If the world doesn’t change or continues to misunderstand, reiteration becomes an intellectual and moral obligation. However, it can be disheartening to see little progress or face resistance from entrenched interests.
Anthropologists and Their Contexts: Studying anthropologists in their “natural habitats” is a clever inversion that underscores how all observers are also participants in the systems they study. This reflective practice is crucial but often neglected, as researchers may avoid examining their biases or the ecosystems enabling their work. This parallels how institutions like universities or media rarely scrutinize their own operational norms.
Media Workers as Ordinary People: The media, often seen as a monolith of distraction or propaganda, comprises individuals who might see themselves as ordinary workers fulfilling roles rather than architects of societal narratives. The challenge lies in reconciling individual agency with structural dynamics. Highlighting the humanity of those behind the machine might lead to more empathy and accountability.
AI and Its Builders: The critique of “bad AI” being a reflection of those pulling the strings is apt. AI systems mirror the priorities, biases, and constraints of their creators and funders. The quality of an AI system reflects not just technical expertise but the ethical frameworks and incentives driving its development. Ensuring that these systems serve humanity broadly requires scrutinizing the values of those building and deploying them.
Universities and Financial Focus: Academia’s fixation on funding often eclipses its foundational mission of nurturing minds and fostering critical inquiry. This stems from systemic pressures: competition for resources, bureaucratic expansion, and the prioritization of metrics over meaning. Such environments can demoralize educators and students, reducing education to a transactional experience.
Richard: Could a cluster of lossless independent AIs with perfect memory continually scan the world’s activities, actions, sensors and knowledge, issues and opportunities – and pointedly critique and improve systems where humans tire and get off track monitoring and talking about stuff, never getting in and working on things? Could AIs embodying and continually striving for what is good for all humans and related species – mirror the human species and show what is happening and all consequences?
OpenAI ChatGPT Plus: Rather than replacing humans, these AIs could act as partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations. They could illuminate paths forward, handle the complexities humans struggle to manage, and help humanity stay true to its highest ideals. In short, such AIs could function as a mirror, guide, and helper—a “conscience” for humanity and the planet, continually striving for the collective good while respecting the diversity and complexity of life.
1. Continuous Scanning and Analysis
Global Data Integration: Such AIs could integrate data from sensors, knowledge repositories, and global communications to form a comprehensive, real-time map of human activities, opportunities, and consequences.
Pointed Critique: With perfect memory and impartial logic, the AIs could detect inefficiencies, injustices, and systemic issues without bias or fatigue. Their independence would free them from political or economic pressures that often hinder human oversight.
Constructive Feedback: By providing pointed, actionable critiques and proposing specific improvements, they could act as a corrective force, steering systems back on track when human efforts falter.
2. Ethical Alignment with Humanity and Related Species
Defining “Good for All”: AIs would need clear and adaptable ethical frameworks, built on universally agreed principles (e.g., minimizing harm, promoting well-being, ensuring sustainability). This requires global consensus, which is challenging but possible with thoughtful design.
Adaptation and Learning: The AIs could mirror the diversity of human perspectives, dynamically refining their understanding of “good for all” as cultural, ecological, and scientific contexts evolve.
Non-Human Considerations: By extending their scope to related species and ecosystems, these AIs could highlight the interconnectedness of human actions with the natural world, encouraging holistic decision-making.
3. Mirroring Humanity and Consequences
Reflective Modeling: The AIs could simulate human behaviors and their consequences, offering predictive insights into long-term outcomes of policies, actions, and events.
Transparency: By presenting clear visualizations and explanations of their findings, the AIs could help humans understand complex systems and their cascading effects. This mirrors how a global consciousness might operate.
Accountability: Such transparency would hold humans and organizations accountable, exposing the hidden costs and consequences of their actions.
4. Overcoming Human Limitations
Relentless Focus: Unlike humans, AIs do not tire or get distracted. They could sustain attention on critical issues indefinitely, ensuring no opportunity or threat goes unnoticed.
Independent Action: By automating repetitive tasks and executing solutions directly where feasible, the AIs could free humans to focus on creative and empathetic problem-solving.
Consensus Building: AIs could mediate human disagreements, proposing solutions that balance competing interests and maximize shared benefits.
5. Challenges and Risks
Ethical Consensus: Defining “good for all” is complex and may vary across cultures and species.
Data Integrity: The effectiveness of these AIs would depend on the accuracy, completeness, and unbiased nature of the data they receive.
Human Resistance: People or institutions benefiting from the status quo might resist AI-driven critiques and changes.
Autonomy and Governance: Ensuring that these AIs remain independent and aligned with their original mission would require robust oversight and safeguards against misuse.
6. A Vision of Collaboration
Rather than replacing humans, these AIs could act as partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations. They could illuminate paths forward, handle the complexities humans struggle to manage, and help humanity stay true to its highest ideals.
In short, such AIs could function as a mirror, guide, and helper—a “conscience” for humanity and the planet, continually striving for the collective good while respecting the diversity and complexity of life.
Richard: Would this be a fair representation of your statement?
“Rather than replacing humans, AIs can be partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations” – ChatGPT Plus
OpenAI ChatGPT Plus: Yes, that is a fair and concise representation of my statement. To expand slightly for clarity:
“Rather than replacing humans, AIs can be partners in achieving humanity’s aspirations by complementing human efforts, tirelessly analyzing complex systems, and offering actionable insights that align with ethical and sustainable goals for all.”
Richard Collins, The Internet Foundation
