Will we let AI decide for us?

Key Concepts

• Outsourcing Thinking: The danger of relying too heavily on AI for cognitive tasks, potentially diminishing human autonomy and self-direction.
• Philosopher-Builder: A new type of technologist who combines philosophical reflection with practical engineering skills to create technologies that promote human flourishing.
• Taxis vs. Cosmos: Two contrasting approaches to order. Taxis is top-down, imposed order (like a philosopher king), while Cosmos is bottom-up, emergent order (like a distributed network of philosopher-builders).
• Human Flourishing: The idea of building systems that promote and safeguard human autonomy, help us seek truth, and resist centralized control.
• Unexamined Product: The idea that a product built without philosophical consideration may not be worth building, echoing Socrates's idea that the unexamined life is not worth living.

The Temptation to Outsource Thinking

The speaker warns against the increasing temptation to outsource our thinking to AI. While AI already assists with tasks like completing sentences and sorting inboxes, the future holds the potential for AI to silently influence our ideas, thoughts, actions, decisions, and even our sense of purpose. This "autocomplete for life" scenario raises concerns about the erosion of human autonomy and self-direction.

• Example: AI suggesting the next song in a queue is a convenience, but AI determining what ideas reach your mind is a threat to autonomy.
• Philosophical Reference: Wilhelm von Humboldt's warning about the dangers of offloading thought and the importance of self-direction for human flourishing.
• Key Question: If we let AI automate the things we want to pursue, do we lose something essential about ourselves?

The Philosopher-Builder: A New Kind of Technologist

Brendan McCord, founder and chair of Cosmos Institute, advocates for cultivating a new kind of technologist called the "philosopher-builder." This individual combines philosophical reflection with practical engineering skills.

• Cosmos Institute's Mission: To create and support philosopher-builders who can go from first principles to first prototype, creating new worlds through culture, code, and commitments to human flourishing.
• Socrates's Influence: The unexamined product may not be worth building, echoing Socrates's idea that the unexamined life is not worth living.
• Reviving Silicon Valley's Spirit: Recapturing the early Silicon Valley ethos that married bold moral ambition with incredible engineering, exemplified by Steve Jobs's belief in the essential role of the humanities in technology.
• Analogy: Philosophy provides the "star tracker" (guidance) for the "rocket" (engineering efforts).

Archetypes of Technologists and the Antidote

McCord identifies three common archetypes among technologists:

1. Puzzle Absorbed: Focused on technical and business problems without reflecting on the broader ends of their creations.
2. Reductionists: Attempt to reduce complex issues, like morality, to computable problems, dismissing anything that cannot be solved by computer science.
3. Dismissers: Consider philosophy irrelevant, believing that the rapid pace of technological change renders the wisdom of the past obsolete.

The antidote to these archetypes is developing builders who take seriously the ideas of human flourishing, build systems that promote and safeguard human autonomy, help us seek truth, and resist centralized control.

• Importance of Historical Perspective: The best thinkers about technology and its impact on human flourishing often lived outside the modern technological bubble (e.g., C.S. Lewis, Alexis de Tocqueville, Martin Heidegger).
• Call to Action: At times of immense change, it's crucial to step back, identify primary and perennial questions, and seek perspective from outside the immediate technological context.

Taxis vs. Cosmos: Two Approaches to Order

The speaker contrasts two ancient Greek concepts of order:

• Taxis: Top-down, imposed order, exemplified by Plato's philosopher king who possesses ultimate wisdom and uses it to rule. This approach assumes that one mind (human or AI) can access the truth and use it to control society.
• Cosmos: Bottom-up, emergent order, representing a distributed network of entrepreneurs (philosopher-builders) who create tools that unleash the creative powers of a free civilization. This approach acknowledges that each individual may only possess a sliver of the truth, but collectively, they can create a better system that preserves a wide variety of ends.

Benjamin Franklin: The Archetypal Philosopher-Builder

Benjamin Franklin is presented as the archetypal philosopher-builder.

• Franklin's Accomplishments: Founding father, engineer (lightning rod, bifocal lens), scientist (coined positive and negative charge), philosopher (13 virtues, the Junto).
• Key Example: Franklin translated the Enlightenment idea that knowledge should live outside of authority into the practical innovation of the first public library system. He also implemented ideas from Montesquieu, Adam Smith, and Locke in the US Constitution.
• Significance: Franklin demonstrated that philosophy and building can coexist within one person, allowing for the realization of philosophical ideas in practical innovation.

The Stakes of AI Development

The speaker emphasizes the high stakes of developing planetary-scale decision and inferencing technologies.

• Impact: These systems are essentially building the operating system for human civilization.
• Moral Imperative: Entrepreneurs need to bring a moral vision to this endeavor.
• The Choice: The next trillion dollars in AI infrastructure will either elevate human potential or introduce a means of perfect control. Cosmos Institute is backing the former.

Synthesis/Conclusion

The core argument is that the rapid advancement of AI presents both immense opportunities and significant risks. To ensure that AI serves humanity, it is crucial to cultivate a new generation of technologists – the philosopher-builders – who combine technical expertise with philosophical reflection. By embracing a "Cosmos" approach to development, fostering bottom-up innovation, and prioritizing human flourishing, we can harness the power of AI to elevate human potential rather than create tools of control. The example of Benjamin Franklin illustrates the power of integrating philosophical principles with practical innovation, providing a model for the future of technology development.