In 2000, I wrote an essay for a Humanities class with the central argument being that the internet would isolate us from each other. It was full of doom and gloom, and I don’t think I was wrong. I lost that disk drive with my essay many years ago, but I haven’t forgotten the sentiment. We have become more isolated and divided as a society, even though we’re more connected than ever. And now, we’re on the precipice of the next great social disruption: AI.
While the tech is different, the direction we’re headed feels awfully familiar. Like the internet, AI is both exciting and destructive. But, don’t blame the tech. AI is not our Boogieman. We, the humans, are co-creators of the monster. It’s too late to say turn off the machine. And if we’re honest, it’s not in our control. So, I want to talk about what we actually have control over. We’ve got to hold ourselves accountable for how we behave online, set a high bar for our moral and ethical standards, and above all else, hold onto our humanity.
So, what have I learned since 2000? Technology doesn’t isolate us. We do. We isolate ourselves from each other. Humans or bots run by humans post divisive comments online. We choose to be on our devices instead of talking to strangers at a coffee shop. We have outsized feelings about how we interpret text-based communications with other people. We do this to each other. And along that same line of thinking, AI won’t end us. We have agency in how we embrace or reject AI. We have a responsibility to behave with integrity.
The folks on the forefront of the AI boom may not have the foresight or time to think about how this innovation will impact our future. We can’t rely on them. So, the rest of us have to pick up the slack. We all have a role to play in the future of AI.
We need philosophers, writers, artists, humanitarians, scientists, and radical thinkers more than at any other time in history. As a matter of fact, it is this cohort that is most important right now. Creatives, I’m talking to you now. We are the folks who hold the AI builders’ feet to the fire. It is not a job with 401k and benefits, but it’s the role of a lifetime.
As AI companies chase AGI, the biggest question we should ask right now is: What does it mean to be human? In other words, what is at the core of humanity can AI never replicate? My opinion? The heart. The soul. The reason a ChatGPT, Claude or Gemini conversation has never felt satisfying to me is because AI does not have emotional intelligence.
We learn emotional intelligence from every heartbreak, disappointment, failure, as much as from every success, breakthrough, and heartfelt joy of human affection. AI does not know what it feels like to be vulnerable. Its heart does not race when it’s doing something courageous because it has no heart. It does not know how to navigate the gray area that is muddled by human emotion. It does not have instincts. It cannot make emotional compromises.
Our responsibility as the human in the loop is to apply our humanity to AI.
Large language models are trained on content that humans create. Let’s examine two big chunks of the data set: content that is posted on social media like Reddit and books by publishers whose top criteria is whether an idea is marketable. Think about just those two points of reference: unaccountable and anonymous voices and sellable stories, which is the equivalent of high-brow click bait. If AI actually reaches AGI with those examples as primary sources of data, we are indeed doomed.
I personally find the snarky, clever remarks on the internet exhausting and uninteresting because it’s so commonplace. And I’m terrified to think of what implications it has on training AI. The same human instinct to lean into schadenfreude, is the same instinct that would use technology to exploit rather than help.
So, my challenge to everyone that is a human in the loop: Be impeccable with your words.
Your words are what AI is being trained on. Let’s all make a choice to be more human, more vulnerable; inject honest feelings into online exchanges, not just rage, hate, sarcasm, memes, and inside jokes. The anger you feel from high gas prices and unaffordable rent is also hurt, disappointment, and frustration that you don’t know who to trust to shape policy. It’s the heartbreak that you can’t provide a better life for your family. It’s fear that you have an uncertain future. Use expansive and vulnerable language.
And if you’re one of the folks working in AI, think of the 8 billion people who are impacted by your work. Account for their voice when you’re building these tools. Give it heart. Give it empathy. Ask yourself, if the last voice you hear on your deathbed is an AI chatbot, how do you want it to make you feel?
Leave a Reply