AI OR I AM

A drawing of Michelangelo's The Creation of Man from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel at the Vatican, Rome, Italy, from a Victorian book dated 1879 that is no longer in copyright

Today’s view of machine learning systems like ChatGPT, Bard, and Sydney is either “Bots will destroy humans” or “Our glorious future is here.” In our humble opinion, neither will prove to be true. Machine learning systems are statistical engines for pattern matching and providing probable answers.

On the other hand, the brain is messy and forgetful. Yet, unlike AI (artificial intelligence) humans can create, if we seek a new way of expressing music, science, or poetry. Therein lies our unique power, developed over eons of evolution. We have a body that experiences the world and a brain that records our feelings when we interact with it.

So, if you’re frightened that AI will replace you, access your human experiences when you speak. Study and own your vocal cadences, movements, and gestures. Express your insights and emotional nuance through novel similes, analogies, and examples. Your ability to communicate will always exceed correlations or statistical probabilities.

Only you can create pictures in the imagination of your audience, make them feel, and move them to action. “Close the pod bay door, Hal.” (From the 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey)

2 Comments

  1. ROBERT REES says:

    The inset portion of the Sistine Chapel showing the moment of creation is an interesting choice. After Michelangelo painted the ceiling, someone asked the artist where the soul resided in the body. The artist pointed to God in said there. In about 2008, a brain surgeon heard that story and observed that the cloak behind God was in the shape of a cross-section of the human brain. Apparently, no one had noticed that in the prior centuries.

    • Deborah Shames says:

      Referencing the soul is another layer of who we are. Thanks for bringing your insights to our tip, including the addition of the brain’s cross-section. Fascinating!

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