I just cross-posted this with this note: Our reader Josh Rosenberg--whose work I've posted here before under the "What went wrong" rubric--wrote this during my four-day *ekstasis,* as one reader described it, or my adventure in art therapy, as another reader put it more prosaically. Josh had no knowledge of what I was about to write. (Nor did I.) It's spookily germane--especially his point about the impulse to retreat into the concrete and the tangible. I was carrying out the upscale version of the maneuver he describes here. This is an important insight: I might not have recognized it to be a really good insight, though. if I hadn't just spent my week the way I did. (I actually have more to say about this but no space. I'll leave it in the comments on his piece.) For those who don't subscribe, I'm talking about this: https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/under-the-roman-goddess. It's a description of the utter joy I felt when my Internet went out for four days.
The word I've been drawn to in considering what you're describing, Josh, is "infantilization." And what have I been doing if not infantilizing myself? I've been finger-painting, for God's sake! But you're right to say that it's not quite infantilization. Or perhaps it is, but I think you're right: it's prompted by the utterly unnatural way we're forcing our brains--which aren't adapted to it--to operate. It's unbearable, and it's making us nuts.
Ah great minds I guess... You did the applied version. It's microluddism vs. macro:) I really enjoyed your piece btw, which I only finished reading last night. Both this one and the last one about cleaning your apartment reminded me of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" in terms of experiencing and describing hands on tasks and or/projects as almost a form of cognitive reverie. I remember each time I used to move into a new apartment I'd buy a whole bunch of Ikea furniture and spend a couple days on assembly. It's the kind of thing that has the potential to become maddening. But when I'd put on music and immerse myself in the task, it would become almost a pleasure. Not sure I ever quite achieved euphoria doing it. But perhaps I reached a euphoria-adjacent state of mind;) There's definitely something about being able to see and/or touch the fruits of your labor that makes the experience qualitatively different. In fact, maybe I should have included something about this in the first section of my article to give that part a more personal touch. Oh well... Anyways, I'm glad you found it relevant. And thanks for sharing it!
Josh -- I like the article.! It reads quite fluently about the forces disrupting our society (hence how we found ourselves in Trump II) & the necessity to step back from allowing AI & the tech bros to wipe out our humanity on the way to making themselves all trillionaires. Moreover, you are on target about these trends germinating in the early 21st century, leading on up to something awful for humankind as we head toward mid-century.
A few caveats: I wish you would find less jarring synonyms for stupidity & ignorance. As to the movie, "The Social Network," please humanize it by mentioning that a very young Jesse Eisenberg convincingly played the nerd king, Zuckerberg. Finally, I was glad that at the very end of the article you referred to the economic trends (i.e., the tech billionaires) that have played a critical role in creating this Brave New World that I (in my old age) feel myself propelled along all the way into its very core -- minus any real agency on my part. Nevertheless, as you are a mathematician, I do wish that you had discussed some of the economic factors propelling the techno hubris earlier in your article.
Overall, quite a solid, thoughtful, cogent article! I am glad to have read it & will send it on --
Actually, I think “epidemic of mass stupidity” describes the phenomenon pretty well.
As for “human-replacing” AI, in reality, it has been hugely over-hyped. It is the latest “tulip bubble.”
As a tool, used responsibly by intelligent and morally sound persons, it has enormous potential for good. But like all powerful tools, in the hands of the idiotic and the unscrupulous, it has equally hiuge potential for global catastrophe.
Our problem is less technological than philosophical, political and legal. All new technology needs a legal framework for development and use. The current monopolists controlling AI have succeeded in obstructing all efforts to design, enact and implement such a legal framework.
That, I think, is the main danger, challenge and task at hand. We can perform it either before or after catastrophe. Before would be better.
Human society must be mobilized to demand the legal framework. Trusting “Trumpists,” et al. will not work. Trusting the monopolists will not work. Restoring the rule of law just might work, not only for AI, but for other social “goods” too.
I just cross-posted this with this note: Our reader Josh Rosenberg--whose work I've posted here before under the "What went wrong" rubric--wrote this during my four-day *ekstasis,* as one reader described it, or my adventure in art therapy, as another reader put it more prosaically. Josh had no knowledge of what I was about to write. (Nor did I.) It's spookily germane--especially his point about the impulse to retreat into the concrete and the tangible. I was carrying out the upscale version of the maneuver he describes here. This is an important insight: I might not have recognized it to be a really good insight, though. if I hadn't just spent my week the way I did. (I actually have more to say about this but no space. I'll leave it in the comments on his piece.) For those who don't subscribe, I'm talking about this: https://claireberlinski.substack.com/p/under-the-roman-goddess. It's a description of the utter joy I felt when my Internet went out for four days.
The word I've been drawn to in considering what you're describing, Josh, is "infantilization." And what have I been doing if not infantilizing myself? I've been finger-painting, for God's sake! But you're right to say that it's not quite infantilization. Or perhaps it is, but I think you're right: it's prompted by the utterly unnatural way we're forcing our brains--which aren't adapted to it--to operate. It's unbearable, and it's making us nuts.
Ah great minds I guess... You did the applied version. It's microluddism vs. macro:) I really enjoyed your piece btw, which I only finished reading last night. Both this one and the last one about cleaning your apartment reminded me of the book "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance" in terms of experiencing and describing hands on tasks and or/projects as almost a form of cognitive reverie. I remember each time I used to move into a new apartment I'd buy a whole bunch of Ikea furniture and spend a couple days on assembly. It's the kind of thing that has the potential to become maddening. But when I'd put on music and immerse myself in the task, it would become almost a pleasure. Not sure I ever quite achieved euphoria doing it. But perhaps I reached a euphoria-adjacent state of mind;) There's definitely something about being able to see and/or touch the fruits of your labor that makes the experience qualitatively different. In fact, maybe I should have included something about this in the first section of my article to give that part a more personal touch. Oh well... Anyways, I'm glad you found it relevant. And thanks for sharing it!
Josh -- I like the article.! It reads quite fluently about the forces disrupting our society (hence how we found ourselves in Trump II) & the necessity to step back from allowing AI & the tech bros to wipe out our humanity on the way to making themselves all trillionaires. Moreover, you are on target about these trends germinating in the early 21st century, leading on up to something awful for humankind as we head toward mid-century.
A few caveats: I wish you would find less jarring synonyms for stupidity & ignorance. As to the movie, "The Social Network," please humanize it by mentioning that a very young Jesse Eisenberg convincingly played the nerd king, Zuckerberg. Finally, I was glad that at the very end of the article you referred to the economic trends (i.e., the tech billionaires) that have played a critical role in creating this Brave New World that I (in my old age) feel myself propelled along all the way into its very core -- minus any real agency on my part. Nevertheless, as you are a mathematician, I do wish that you had discussed some of the economic factors propelling the techno hubris earlier in your article.
Overall, quite a solid, thoughtful, cogent article! I am glad to have read it & will send it on --
Actually, I think “epidemic of mass stupidity” describes the phenomenon pretty well.
As for “human-replacing” AI, in reality, it has been hugely over-hyped. It is the latest “tulip bubble.”
As a tool, used responsibly by intelligent and morally sound persons, it has enormous potential for good. But like all powerful tools, in the hands of the idiotic and the unscrupulous, it has equally hiuge potential for global catastrophe.
Our problem is less technological than philosophical, political and legal. All new technology needs a legal framework for development and use. The current monopolists controlling AI have succeeded in obstructing all efforts to design, enact and implement such a legal framework.
That, I think, is the main danger, challenge and task at hand. We can perform it either before or after catastrophe. Before would be better.
Human society must be mobilized to demand the legal framework. Trusting “Trumpists,” et al. will not work. Trusting the monopolists will not work. Restoring the rule of law just might work, not only for AI, but for other social “goods” too.
Excellent poetic evaluation
🙏
death to anyone who supports or uses ai. death to the ceos and the politicians who support it. the data centers must be destroyed.
Excellent piece Claire