AI and Ecocivilization are both deeply transformative to our world system: one is occurring now, the other is a vision and invitation. How do they relate?
Good points. Just like the Internet, there are positives and negatives, but the negatives will only compound as long as the capitalist interests control the direction of our society.
Which is why everything we do as activists, educators and agents of system change should be to dismantle the power structures of capitalists, transfer as much of our society over to community commons and cooperative networks (libraries of things would factor in to a large degree) so that we can take the power back.
We have always held the cards, the working class, we do all the work, the billionaires and techno-lords are literally useless if they didn't have workers to exploit. But the race is on: Will the techno-lords automate production to such a degree they barely need any humans to run it and we enter the 'early phase' of the dystopian future depicted in the film, Elysium, where a stark two-class society has been created OR do we we radically organize our communities and transfer operations over to a viable system model, such as Integral Collective (Peter Joseph's Substack for more), and bleed the capitalist machine dry so it will stop the system-generating ecocide and genocide that the psychopathic billionaires will not stop on their own?
Thank you Jeremy for this thoughtful reflection. I kept coming back to the idea that AI is ultimately a mirror. It has the potential to amplify both our wisdom and our blind spots. That makes the conversation less about the technology itself and more about the values we choose to cultivate as a society.
Great overview Jeremy. I hope your suggestions for harnessing the power of AI for the public/planetary good will be as comprehensive (and I certainly hope they include using AI to dump the current monetary/economic paradigm that ensnares human happiness and potential).
I'm planning to facilitate a group discussion next month, based on this article, in context of climate change, and of course morals and ethics. Hope that's okay with you.
"No matter what the potential benefits of AI might be, as long as it’s developed within our current system, it will ultimately be used to intensify the forces of extraction and exploitation while further priming the wealth pump sucking common wealth to a tiny elite."
This is THE BIGEE! We need a new creation story we all accept, where we're not sinners climbing over one another to get the most, but divine creatures cooperating to make it a beautiful world. Change our story; change our world. It is THE hope. Here's my Sbstck from yesterday, on that topic:
Nice one, a good discussion that is needed. I’ve probably said this before: at universities I am noticing the increasing use of AI by students for producing reports and coding, while it is possible for staff to mark their work using AI. So, advanced education is becoming two groups of computers talking to each other (humans optional). Modernity has already eliminated 300,000 years of wisdom, now we are ending post-industrial human learning too. I just hope by doctor wasn’t trained by AI.
Good points. Just like the Internet, there are positives and negatives, but the negatives will only compound as long as the capitalist interests control the direction of our society.
Which is why everything we do as activists, educators and agents of system change should be to dismantle the power structures of capitalists, transfer as much of our society over to community commons and cooperative networks (libraries of things would factor in to a large degree) so that we can take the power back.
We have always held the cards, the working class, we do all the work, the billionaires and techno-lords are literally useless if they didn't have workers to exploit. But the race is on: Will the techno-lords automate production to such a degree they barely need any humans to run it and we enter the 'early phase' of the dystopian future depicted in the film, Elysium, where a stark two-class society has been created OR do we we radically organize our communities and transfer operations over to a viable system model, such as Integral Collective (Peter Joseph's Substack for more), and bleed the capitalist machine dry so it will stop the system-generating ecocide and genocide that the psychopathic billionaires will not stop on their own?
Thank you Jeremy for this thoughtful reflection. I kept coming back to the idea that AI is ultimately a mirror. It has the potential to amplify both our wisdom and our blind spots. That makes the conversation less about the technology itself and more about the values we choose to cultivate as a society.
Great overview Jeremy. I hope your suggestions for harnessing the power of AI for the public/planetary good will be as comprehensive (and I certainly hope they include using AI to dump the current monetary/economic paradigm that ensnares human happiness and potential).
Hi Jeremy,
I'm wondering what your thoughts are on Chinese AI which is open source and has a very different cultural context.
I'm really enjoying your book.
Excellent Wake-Up Call !!!
I'm planning to facilitate a group discussion next month, based on this article, in context of climate change, and of course morals and ethics. Hope that's okay with you.
Also, I got reminded of this article which seems to be closely related, focused on one aspect of AI doom: https://shephalibhatt.substack.com/p/a-flood-of-faces
I’ve read your first 2 books - finishing ECOCIVILIZATION now. I truly appreciate your insight and analysis. Keep up the great work 👏🏼
"No matter what the potential benefits of AI might be, as long as it’s developed within our current system, it will ultimately be used to intensify the forces of extraction and exploitation while further priming the wealth pump sucking common wealth to a tiny elite."
This is THE BIGEE! We need a new creation story we all accept, where we're not sinners climbing over one another to get the most, but divine creatures cooperating to make it a beautiful world. Change our story; change our world. It is THE hope. Here's my Sbstck from yesterday, on that topic:
Uniting us in a new story
Getting us excited about how the world could be
https://suzannetaylor.substack.com/p/uniting-us-in-a-new-story
Nice one, a good discussion that is needed. I’ve probably said this before: at universities I am noticing the increasing use of AI by students for producing reports and coding, while it is possible for staff to mark their work using AI. So, advanced education is becoming two groups of computers talking to each other (humans optional). Modernity has already eliminated 300,000 years of wisdom, now we are ending post-industrial human learning too. I just hope by doctor wasn’t trained by AI.