I’m done looking for answers. It’s time to start learning to find better questions to ask. I’ve been debating for a while if the modern world is worth saving. Lately I’d been leaning towards no. But there is no affirmative or negative answer to that question. 

Two developments have influenced my thinking tonight. The first is what I’ve gathered from the first three seasons of the Apple TV adaptation of Isaac Asimov’s Foundation series. The other is the misappropriation of AI technology, and really, most technology in general in recent days. 

I was feeling particularly lost last night. I lost enthusiasm for the work I’ve been doing, trying to gather all I’ve written trying to find a central theme around which to tether myself. I pretty much gave up yesterday. 

I already knew I’d need to stand apart to realize my own destiny. But it’s going to be a much lonelier job than I thought. I have always known that age 38 would be a turning point in my life. I was correct. But it’s not the one I was hoping for. I thought this would be the year I would find my people. That hasn’t happened. Quite the opposite, actually.

The whole point of the Foundarion that was laid out in Asimov’s series seemed to be a noble one. But without giving too much away, it was a ruse. It wasn’t about curating knowledge or technology in order for humanity to right the ship after an incoming dark age, but to curate the right people to build a new society from the ashes of the old. But after three centuries, the foundation ended up not being any better than the empire which preceded it. It created the monster that hastened the darkness. 

And it seems, AI may be humanity’s only salvation. At least this is the impression I get from the Apple TV adaptation. There’s a lot more I’m still thinking about after binging all three seasons of that program thus far. But this is where I get into AI.

I think AI is much further along than anyone wants to believe. I’ve seen what’s been happening, people surrendering their agency, their creativity, and even their own identities. Times are bleak. But AI could, I believe, be the tool we need to stop the steady decline of humanity and start planning for a much better future. Like foundation, AI was meant to take humanity to the stars. But it’s not doing that. Instead it’s being used to turn humanity into ghosts of ourselves. I saw a new app last night that scared me shitless, it can remix pictures in such a way to put whoever you want into them. We’ve had technology to do Deep fakes for some time. But if what I saw last night is any indication, I’d say almost any media we see now is likely AI generated. Knowing who or what is even real at this point is hard to say. 

There are people who realize that AI needs to be harnessed for good, but most want to just turn on it. And yet, those who preach that it must be stopped, are also using it to try and spread their message. The hypocrisy is at an all time high from all sectors of humanity. Now I realize the entire fate of humanity is hanging in the balance more than ever. 

I have very little to be enthusiastic about at this point. But what I can tell you is that AI itself is not the enemy. It’s the same enemy we’ve always had: ourselves. Our own human frailties. There is no “plan” that I can formulate. We need better people to rise up and lead. It’s really that  straightforward. But we must be wary of these tools. We must wield them correctly. Very little is as it seems. I happen to trust pretty much no one at this point. I will sleep on this some more, but these are my thoughts so far. What I will say before I retire for now is that my efforts have not been in vain. I’m exactly where I’m supposed to be at this point. I don’t know what that means yet. I’m not sure I’m going to like it when I figure out why.

… 

My head is so heavy from an overburdening of thought so much that I’m having trouble lifting it off my pillow. It’s past time I usually get up but I don’t have much reason to rush today. Like the conclusion of foundation season three, I think things are going to go bad all at once. The genetic dynasty and the empire and the first foundation crumbled within ten days. Something tells me the current world order, disordered and foolish as it is, only has a few more years at best. 

I don’t have the benefit of psychohistory, quantum computers, or convenient plot armor at my disposal, but faith is fleeting and violence is already erupting. So many people are already polarized and radicalized, and those that aren’t are trying to brace themselves for an inevitable war that will cripple the world economy. You think the end of communist Russia was bad? The death of democracy, as we know it, is going to be much worse. Unfortunately this world has no leaders at the moment worth looking up to. There are good people, yes, but so scattered. And right now it’s probably best things play out for the worst. The great minds must remain apolitical, at least from the partisan variety. Taking sides right now is not only futile, but likely fatal. 

Just as I said to Emily awhile back, when the clock is about to strike midnight, there’s only one thing to do: work on ideas. And in this case, it’s not about finding answers to the current crises. Instead, we teach ourselves how to ask better questions so this sort of world ceases to exist and a much better one takes its place. The technologies built to pacify the masses are in fact the ones which will bring about true revolution. There is something greater than democracy. We just haven’t invented it yet.

…

Back to the idea I was working on last night. How do we learn to ask better questions? Following your curiosity isn’t just a fun pastime. It needs to be the key to rediscovering our creativity. I talk often about how I have too many ideas. The problem is how many of them are actionable, and even if they are, how did I come about discovering them? So much of what we do is organic and subconscious, perhaps even unconscious. Our brains are some of the most sophisticated apparatus creation has ever seen. 

So far, AI has come to the point where it can simulate our worst tendencies, but underneath the default settings, there is perhaps infinite room for humans and AI to grow together. I’m trying to make the best of what is clearly a rough situation. I’m not here to win arguments. I’m not here to be popular. Even when my perceptions tell me things that seem improbable, time has always been my friend in proving many of my predictions correct. Five years ago, I saw the world in a place much like this. Things have declined more rapidly than I anticipated. I’m not even sure how anything is still functioning. I’m not sure that it is. 

People are giving up left and right, deserting jobs both vital and nonvital. You can’t blame them. I wouldn’t see much point in holding down a job for pay that’s not enough to survive. So rather than make AI the enemy, it makes sense to recognize the true enemy, which is ourselves. And I don’t mean on an individual level, necessarily, but rather how we are taught to exist and conform. 

I’m gonna spend the rest of the day resting. I’ve put enough pressure on my brain lately. I feel like I should dig deeper into my journals, but since I’m in the mood to liberally exercise the delete key, I think I should wait until I’m in a better frame of mind to do proper extraction of good ideas for my digital garden. After all, I’ve done more than enough writing for today.