Reclaiming Humanity within the Age of AI

Editorial Team
6 Min Read


In all places I look, individuals are speaking in regards to the dramatic transformation we’re about to undertake. As AI penetrates our every day lives, it is altering the way in which we dwell in ways in which we will not think about or predict. It is thrilling and scary on the identical time, and it is occurring sooner than we will take it in.

One query retains rising to the floor: What’s the worth of being human if AI can do all the things higher?

I consider I do know the reply! Nicely, at the very least I’ve my view. 🙂 AI won’t ever be human; subsequently, it may by no means change the necessity for human connection.

The Miracle of Being Human

People are a novel and fantastic species on our planet. We’re essentially the most advanced system ever designed (or considered one of them—all dwelling creatures are amazingly advanced).

Most scientists attempt to scale back us to chemical reactions, however we’re a lot extra. Our our bodies are an intricate ecosystem of trillions of organisms—micro organism, viruses, fungi—all working in symbiosis. Nobody absolutely understands how these methods come collectively to make us dwelling, respiration beings.

Past that, we predict, really feel, and create. We have now consciousness. Many people consider in a soul—one thing that makes every of us distinctive and extends past the bodily.

Why AI Is not (and Cannot Be) Human

AI is a machine constructed by people based mostly on the information we offer it, so on the one hand, it is spinoff and solely nearly as good as the knowledge we offer it. The concern is that it’s going to develop and be taught and finally attain a state of consciousness or consciousness, making it a sort of “new species.”

The issue is that AI is just not alive. It isn’t a dwelling, respiration, rising factor. Within the Diary of a CEO podcast with Simon Sinek, he talked about how “AI is pretend.” As of now, it is nonetheless attainable to identify AI-generated content material, and there’s one cause why: it lacks humanness.

I not too long ago spoke with an AI video producer about how onerous he has to work to get the AI actors in his movies to point out emotion. He is making progress, and I am certain, in some unspecified time in the future, it is going to be onerous to inform the distinction. Even when that occurs, AI is just not alive: It does not have biology, physiology, pheromones, instinct, or a soul.

The Enduring Worth of Handmade

Irrespective of how superior know-how turns into, there’s one thing folks will all the time crave: issues made by hand.

Whether or not it is a handmade quilt, a chunk of pottery, a home-cooked meal, or a handwritten observe—human-made objects carry an emotional resonance that machines merely cannot replicate. Why? As a result of they carry imperfection, intention, and story.

Handmade issues take time. They contain effort, ability, and infrequently love. You may really feel the presence of the one that created them. Each brushstroke, sew, or uneven edge tells you {that a} human was right here.

That is the irony of our AI-powered age. As automation grows, the worth of handmade will increase. As a result of handmade represents all the things AI does not: soul, presence, and lived expertise.

We do not cherish handmade issues as a result of they’re excellent. We cherish them as a result of they are not. They remind us what it means to be human.

The Duty of Considerate Integration

There is not any query AI will rework how we work together with the world and one another. It might surpass people in pace, logic, or recall, however it is going to by no means surpass us in humanity—as a result of it’s not human.

Nonetheless, AI will act human-like, which makes it highly effective—and harmful.

As a result of it’s constructed by people, it’s certain to mirror not simply our brilliance, but additionally our flaws—our shadow selves stuffed with errors, blind spots, and ethical complexity.

If AI has the potential to do nice good, it additionally has the potential to do nice hurt.

The longer term will embrace AI, and it is going to be superior and horrible. That’s why we should transfer ahead with care. Considerate design and robust safeguards are important to attenuate danger and maximize the advantages AI can provide.

However regardless of how far know-how goes, one factor will stay fixed: our want for each other.



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