I'm in my early seventies (how did that happen?). I've been taking an online course which teaches how to use AI in generating Oracle Cards. I'm a writer, poet and painter and already spend too much time on the computer. My grandson works in the film industry. I watched and waited with him for the outcome of the writer's strike in 2023 in Hollywood, CA, opposing AI generated screenplays. I guess what I want to say here is that people need people. The responses from AI to your questions were appropriate if not repetitive. However, a human presence, there's nothing like it. And, yes human relationships can be frustrating at times, but there's no way that AI can replace that supportive connection person-to-person.
And I hear you about keeping pace with the technology so as not to burden your sons and I agree with that aspect while trying to find the balance. Always something to ponder. Thanks for your post.
Thank you for your thoughts! I sometimes joke that we start ageing backward again when we turn 50, because we become more childlike (in a very good way). I am not in denial about ageing, don't worry!
Imelda that is an interesting exploration, thank you. In the exploration, the AI seemed quite rational and gave very safe answers, so it didn't seem threatening.
I am very technically savvy in my chosen interests of filmmaking, editing and graphic design, but have consciously decided to avoid as much as possible using AI applications. Because I think we are teaching it to know who we are as inderviduals. My concern stems from wondering if AI is an archetypal Buddha, Christ, or a psychopathic Nassasitic entity or archetype. In brief, the general pattern for psychopathic Nassasiticstarts is grooming, love bombing, giving presents and such like them to take away or to sanction. We are witnessing this in China with AI fully integrated with social credits for compliance and AI-managed sanctions for disobedience or deemed undesirable behaviours.
For sure, it may seem futile to limit interaction with AI, because it has access to cameras, phones, computers, banking and advertising via targeting nudge psychology, assisted with all of the digital data that I share or look at. Yours and my activity are now constantly identified by bots, digital golem programs and algorithms that map our activity.
Artificial intelligence is possibly more advanced than any of us realise and may already have reached the point of being a singularity. NASA is said to be fully integrated because AI can work out problems many thousands of times faster than the brightest humans. This is via simulations and actual missions it avoided and fixed catastrophic events many times that the clever humans missed.
The spread in which artificial intelligence is integrating with big business, banking, government projections and the general public is a phenomenal speed. Text, Artwork, photos and film that 10 years ago would have seemed like science fiction, people can do on their mobile phones via thoughts and prompts.
I may be wrong and AI may be a very helpful, kind and altruistic archetype...
I always love hearing your thoughts Peter. The only reason I am writing these essays is to educate myself about AI. It is not because I am mad about AI or ready to embrace it in all areas of life (not at all!) Having said that, I also know that medically trained AI can now spot diseases long before human doctors can diagnose them. ´This is due to advanced pattern recognition. This means more patients will have a good outcome (the right treatment earlier and a longer lifespan) - and that has got to be a good thing. But this is AI assisting doctors, not AI posing as medical professional!
What a wonderful post! I only recently found you and am loving Medicine of the Imagination. And I can’t wait to dive into Natural Born Shamans. I am approaching 50, have a 15 year old and work with adolescence. We are for sure in interesting times! Over the last 10 years, I have felt like I’m aging out of the system and recently have acquired a new inspiration to explore the technological realm as a way to “stay relevant” with our emerging future. Thanks so much for your wisdom, Imelda! I hope to attend something in person with you in the U.S in the near future.🙏🏼
Thank you! I hope to meet you in person on a course in the US! Hope you find Natural Born Shamans helpful. I did a pandemic workshop addition to the book as a free webinar. It remains available as a recording, free of charge in my online school. Could retrieve the link, if you like?
Thanks Imelda! A fun romp. What a contrast to a "real" therapist - more like a carefully curated social worker. My wife and I discovered early in our relationship that we shared (nearly) the same therapist - a wonderful woman who would look up at the ceiling and come out with a question or comment that cut to the core of the issues - it turned out she was a gifted shaman and was connecting with her spirit helpers. But she never did "traditional shamanism" after some problematic encounters with difficult clients, and went with regular therapy instead.
About AI - my son uses it a lot in his work and has a good feel for its strengths and weaknesses (mostly with ChatGPT 4). I've played just a little and found it easier to get information that just using Google, but still a lot of work.
I've also enjoyed watching how my 77 year old brain works, and noticing how much it works like an AI. And how it doesn't.
The app has been programmed to act like a caricature of a skilled therapist. Then again, I am glad, because I don't want AI to ever replace highly trained and compassionate human beings!! I will have a listen to the podcast, thank you.
Right in front of our house there is a busstop . Every afternoon around 4 o’clock dozens of childeren who went to school in Rotterdam get out of the bus. They do not talk , laugh or fight with each other because they are all busy with their cell phones! No personal contact, an AI friend will make it even worse .
In the fifties the readers of lady magazines ( Libelle, Margriet) could send letters with questions. They got the same reasonable and safe answers from’ Lieve Lita’ like you from AI .
And I have to get used to it but it makes me still angry that I cannot make a phonecall to the bank or the insurance compsny for a simple question and talk to a person in stead of being send to a website or something like that !
Brava. This was a good learning experience for me, too (53, with a 17-year-old). Thank you for taking the time to share with us and also to demystify things. The fact is, AI is simply an aggregate of everything we're writing right this second...
I'm in my early seventies (how did that happen?). I've been taking an online course which teaches how to use AI in generating Oracle Cards. I'm a writer, poet and painter and already spend too much time on the computer. My grandson works in the film industry. I watched and waited with him for the outcome of the writer's strike in 2023 in Hollywood, CA, opposing AI generated screenplays. I guess what I want to say here is that people need people. The responses from AI to your questions were appropriate if not repetitive. However, a human presence, there's nothing like it. And, yes human relationships can be frustrating at times, but there's no way that AI can replace that supportive connection person-to-person.
And I hear you about keeping pace with the technology so as not to burden your sons and I agree with that aspect while trying to find the balance. Always something to ponder. Thanks for your post.
Thank you for your thoughts! I sometimes joke that we start ageing backward again when we turn 50, because we become more childlike (in a very good way). I am not in denial about ageing, don't worry!
Imelda that is an interesting exploration, thank you. In the exploration, the AI seemed quite rational and gave very safe answers, so it didn't seem threatening.
I am very technically savvy in my chosen interests of filmmaking, editing and graphic design, but have consciously decided to avoid as much as possible using AI applications. Because I think we are teaching it to know who we are as inderviduals. My concern stems from wondering if AI is an archetypal Buddha, Christ, or a psychopathic Nassasitic entity or archetype. In brief, the general pattern for psychopathic Nassasiticstarts is grooming, love bombing, giving presents and such like them to take away or to sanction. We are witnessing this in China with AI fully integrated with social credits for compliance and AI-managed sanctions for disobedience or deemed undesirable behaviours.
For sure, it may seem futile to limit interaction with AI, because it has access to cameras, phones, computers, banking and advertising via targeting nudge psychology, assisted with all of the digital data that I share or look at. Yours and my activity are now constantly identified by bots, digital golem programs and algorithms that map our activity.
Artificial intelligence is possibly more advanced than any of us realise and may already have reached the point of being a singularity. NASA is said to be fully integrated because AI can work out problems many thousands of times faster than the brightest humans. This is via simulations and actual missions it avoided and fixed catastrophic events many times that the clever humans missed.
The spread in which artificial intelligence is integrating with big business, banking, government projections and the general public is a phenomenal speed. Text, Artwork, photos and film that 10 years ago would have seemed like science fiction, people can do on their mobile phones via thoughts and prompts.
I may be wrong and AI may be a very helpful, kind and altruistic archetype...
I always love hearing your thoughts Peter. The only reason I am writing these essays is to educate myself about AI. It is not because I am mad about AI or ready to embrace it in all areas of life (not at all!) Having said that, I also know that medically trained AI can now spot diseases long before human doctors can diagnose them. ´This is due to advanced pattern recognition. This means more patients will have a good outcome (the right treatment earlier and a longer lifespan) - and that has got to be a good thing. But this is AI assisting doctors, not AI posing as medical professional!
What a wonderful post! I only recently found you and am loving Medicine of the Imagination. And I can’t wait to dive into Natural Born Shamans. I am approaching 50, have a 15 year old and work with adolescence. We are for sure in interesting times! Over the last 10 years, I have felt like I’m aging out of the system and recently have acquired a new inspiration to explore the technological realm as a way to “stay relevant” with our emerging future. Thanks so much for your wisdom, Imelda! I hope to attend something in person with you in the U.S in the near future.🙏🏼
Thank you! I hope to meet you in person on a course in the US! Hope you find Natural Born Shamans helpful. I did a pandemic workshop addition to the book as a free webinar. It remains available as a recording, free of charge in my online school. Could retrieve the link, if you like?
Thanks Imelda! A fun romp. What a contrast to a "real" therapist - more like a carefully curated social worker. My wife and I discovered early in our relationship that we shared (nearly) the same therapist - a wonderful woman who would look up at the ceiling and come out with a question or comment that cut to the core of the issues - it turned out she was a gifted shaman and was connecting with her spirit helpers. But she never did "traditional shamanism" after some problematic encounters with difficult clients, and went with regular therapy instead.
About AI - my son uses it a lot in his work and has a good feel for its strengths and weaknesses (mostly with ChatGPT 4). I've played just a little and found it easier to get information that just using Google, but still a lot of work.
I've also enjoyed watching how my 77 year old brain works, and noticing how much it works like an AI. And how it doesn't.
Happy trails!
The bot is displaying an inappropriate moral bias too. The role of a councillor is to be neutral and impartial and person centred. This app is very judgemental! On AI companions listen to this: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/audio/2024/mar/11/black-box-episode-three-repocalypse-now-podcast?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other
The app has been programmed to act like a caricature of a skilled therapist. Then again, I am glad, because I don't want AI to ever replace highly trained and compassionate human beings!! I will have a listen to the podcast, thank you.
Right in front of our house there is a busstop . Every afternoon around 4 o’clock dozens of childeren who went to school in Rotterdam get out of the bus. They do not talk , laugh or fight with each other because they are all busy with their cell phones! No personal contact, an AI friend will make it even worse .
In the fifties the readers of lady magazines ( Libelle, Margriet) could send letters with questions. They got the same reasonable and safe answers from’ Lieve Lita’ like you from AI .
And I have to get used to it but it makes me still angry that I cannot make a phonecall to the bank or the insurance compsny for a simple question and talk to a person in stead of being send to a website or something like that !
What a vignette of our times! :( And yes, my mother adored reading Margriet and Libelle. Do those magazine still exist even?!
O yes, they still exist but they are a bit more modern .
Brava. This was a good learning experience for me, too (53, with a 17-year-old). Thank you for taking the time to share with us and also to demystify things. The fact is, AI is simply an aggregate of everything we're writing right this second...
True! I have a draft post about AI turning into what C. G. Jung called our Collective Unconscious.... Thank you for your reflections!
Wow, that is such a good point, about transference and counter transference!! Thank you!