I’m going to talk a bit about synthetic artificial intelligence in the content of true human learning and creativity. It is important that we remember and keep in touch with who we are as creative beings in the midst of an onslaught that intends to keep us in the dark and to ultimately bury us into silence and even madness. I am not playing around when I say this. The number of people, particularly artistic and spiritual types, are going to suffer with anxiety and other psychological conditions more than anyone else will. I wish I could speak to every artist on the planet and tell them not to forget who they are: the magic, the creative process, the inspiration, the love: none of that can be experienced, replaced or communicated by AI. We, as creative beings, all have the capacity to reject the AI and work together to create a simpler, and better world. I wish I could say that to every heart that is still beating and is still open.
To find value in one’s creative work is more than just the results of that work. The finished poem, the painting, the music: all of that is satisfying of course; but the true treasure is the becoming of the art, the profound connection of engagement with the materials, the inspiration, the ideas that come as clouds come in the springtime, and the sheer will to give birth to something beautiful. Before Google came along, the search for information didn’t exist. We didn’t expect an immediate answer to every question. Instead, we were just there, wondering: what if? how? what? why? Those little questions are like the launching of a rocket into unknown space, and we never know how long it takes to explore them, to find the answer. And, to our surprise, more often than not, we forget those original questions, and find ourselves in a completely different place, asking completely different questions, wandering as Odysseus did through his adventures in the Greek seas. We only return home when we are ready to bring home some kind of answer, some beautiful treasure, the fruit of our endeavors. The search for truth is something that takes time, even lifetimes of seeking, no matter what the topic of interest or the position of the questioner. None of that time or space matters. This is sheer bliss. Creativity is the lifeblood of humanity.
When the internet came along at first, it seemed to be a place where artists could land. They could publish their writings, their poems, and their music. Finally, a place where they could show the whole world the fruits of their lifetime labor. Search engines made it easier to find these art works, and social media gave the artist even more connection with those who were interested. However, this enticement of the artist to produce more, be seen more, become popular, make money, become an influencer and be famous let so many to willingly sign the dotted line, and agree to feed the early synthetic search engines. Now that Google has replaced libraries, and sacred places of wisdom and knowledge, the adventure of discovery has now become accessible only by the few. The experience of discovery and the rewards of synthesis are no longer as present and available as they once were. Schools teach kids to Google for information, for ideas, and for content. We become addicted to the pleasure of instant gratification of what the ego desires right here and right now. Why put much effort in at all? We simply search for the information we want, and we are immediately granted that information in short time and with minimal effort. This kind of information retrieval seems to work for short-term needs such as “how to make biscuits”, but in the long terms trains human beings to be impatient, weary of anything that takes longer than a few minutes, and incapable or unwilling to see the big picture, or the odd connection between all seemingly disparate things. Those rocket questions: what if? how? what? why? are all but abandoned for search results and quick fixes. The pain of this becomes buried, the pain of a repressed instinct for creativity, for exploration, for expansion. The states of wonder, curiosity, and lifelong commitment to learning are aborted before they have even begun to grow. Even worse, human beings no longer relate to their world as something that informs and grows them into who they are, but as something “out there”; as information; as data; as object; as completely separate – and indifferent- to themselves.
The truth is that the information age, the age of technology, has served to dissociate human beings from their connection to earth, each other, and the infinite space of creation. This is has resulted in severe mental and psychology issues, disease, and a deep and often hidden sense of self-loathing, doubt, shame, anger, and pain. Consider the number of people who are now on constant forms of medication for various “disorders”.
Enter AI. AI will eventually replace Google. Instead of feeding up artistic content to the world, it analyzes and synthesizes it. In order for AI to work at all, it learns from pre-existing content. In this case, the content is everything anyone has ever uploaded to the internet, including articles like this one, which will be inevitably integrated into its belly at some point in time. All your data, images, videos, of your kids, or of the stuff that is born from your imagination has become food for these systems. The AI counts on and depends on being fed artistic content. That content is infinite in possibility because we are infinitely creative beings. And, as long as we continue to feed the beast, the longer the beast will live and thrive, and use that energy in order to replace the jobs of artists, musicians, and writers everywhere. The interesting thing about this beast is that it is, in the end, a reflection of all possible combinations of pre-existing knowledge and content. Unlike human beings who can, in their highest form of creativity, create from nothing at all, and literally pull-down content from the void, the AI requires pattern learning in order to synthesize content. And because AI can appear so very human in its expression (because it learns from human biological AI, which I have spoken about in this blog), most human beings on the planet will continue to give their energy and power to it, either by relying on to “create” or “make” things, depend on it for their job, or use it to write papers, get information, and help them live their lives on every level. Many people think that the powerful beings in the world are greedy for money and status. This is not true. They are greedy only for YOU, for your energy, your time, your space, to the point where eventually, they would like you to become completely unconscious to your relevancy, except as some kind of battery to their AI systems.
The death and the destruction that will occur, if this AI hellscape continues as it wants to, is generally being ignored amid all the excitement/fear and hype that is currently being generated. Everyone is “playing” with AI right now and many people are going to soon discover that the illusion of the world will take on a whole new level of deception, one that many of us will be incapable of seeing through. Fake events, fake actors, fake politicians, fake leaders. You will never know what is real in that world, and more and more people will, in that energy of confusion, put themselves back to sleep with their jobs, the limited focus on their own survival, their sources of entertainment, and their addictions.
I don’t like to leave you with only the forecasting of the dangerous times we are in, without suggesting what can be done, or what we can do to choose something different. First of all, as I have spoken about in this blog time and time again, there is nothing you can “do”. Doing is not the solution. Doing is the solution of the AI program and is part of the problem. It is critical now more than ever embrace who you are, to experience presence of Being; to reach into the depths of who all your neglected aspects, the darker places, your anger and your frustration even, because in that anger and frustration lies the keys to what means most to you. Commit to what means most to you. Commit to what is real and true, even if you are afraid to commit to it because you may “lose your job” or “friends” or even “family”. The time will come when you will have no choice but to commit. The stakes will become way too high for you to resist. And when that day comes, you will start to feel who you are, what you are about, and why you are here in these most dangerous and precipitous times. But if you wait until that day, you won’t be able to be strong enough, prepared enough, or ready to handle what is coming. On the other hand, if you commit to opening your heart, allow the seeking, the creative questioning, the roaming, the wondering, the curiosity, the love, to flow and blossom and give fruit, you will be ready. Nothing will stop you from the arrival that is your destiny to create. It is written already in the stars.
Blessings,
XO
Soul in the machine 