20 Comments
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Colette Molteni's avatar

Wow - looking at AI as a way for collective healing, equity, and long-term planetary care is one human-centered vision of AI I’ve read—thank you for daring to imagine beyond the usual fear-driven narratives. The question of who programs the values is everything, and your suggestion to start with love? That’s not naïve, it’s necessary.

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Karl Dunn's avatar

I think it could potentially work. When I find my mind returning again and again to an idea, I think there's something in it. And I couldn't find anything else written like this so far. Glad it landed with you Colette.

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Wayne's avatar

It’s the Star Trek future we’ve all dreamed of. A symbiotic partnership of machine and organic intelligence which creates an Earth with no money and no wars where people pursue their passions instead of a paycheck. Getting everyone onboard with this will be tricky though. It is a grand vision.

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Thank you Wayne. I'm starting to think that this is the book I'm writing after Undividing. It's something that took hold and I can't put down. I mean, if we could actually do this, it would be amazing. Like you say, it's the non-dystopia future in sci-fi we all want.

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Virgin Monk Boy's avatar

This felt like reading the owner's manual for the future we keep saying is impossible. The idea that AI could take over not our humanity but our admin is exactly the kind of inversion we need. What if we stopped asking AI to make our lives more productive and started asking it to make our systems more humane?

Also, the "Why Grandma?" moment gave me chills. If we raise AI like our collective child, maybe it will grow into the kind of grown-up we never quite became.

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Beautifully put Aleksander. Make our systems more humane. And we could program it to be the best of us.

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Taft's avatar

I love this, and I think it was very well articulated. I am sharing it widely because I think this is absolutely the dominant conversation that everyone needs to be part of and refining and improving and helping come into reality!!!

Thanks Karl 💌

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Thanks, Taft. Yeah this idea just won’t leave me alone. I’m glad it landed with you too. Send it wide. Maybe we can get this thing moving.

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Ash Brouwer's avatar

Thank you for this very different vision for our future with AI 🌹🙏🏽🌹 deeply appreciated

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Karl Dunn's avatar

For sure, Ash. My pleasure. The more I think about this idea the more I think it just makes such total sense. I can’t think of another option that could work as well.

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MIchael Tscheu's avatar

Checkout this old movie. It’s very provocative in the context of AI:

The Forbin Project

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Will do Michael!

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Angela Jean's avatar

Hi Karl. Intriguing piece. I am curious if AI helped you write it?

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Absolutely. I use ChatGPT to research articles. It’s like Google without the ads. And then once you’ve written it it’s great to put it back through ChatGPT and say now give me a critique. I find it so useful as a research assistant and a sounding board.But when it comes to the actual physical writing, that’s always gotta be me.

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Robert L. Bergs's avatar

A just machine to make big decisions

Programmed by fellows with compassion and vision

We'll be clean when their work is done

We'll be eternally free yes and eternally young

What a beautiful world this will be

What a glorious time to be free

Donald Fagen from his song IGY

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Terry Cooke-Davies's avatar

Bravo, for the moonshot.

That is precisely what my AI assistant and I are getting at in https://terrycookedavies.substack.com/p/choosing-life-in-the-age-of-algorithms?r=2ho4b2

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Yukon Dave's avatar

"Purpose can shift from work to worth—putting our talents where they flourish." Lets say you are right. When I ask my kids if they want to play with a screen or do anything else, we all know the answer. I believe with more free time for adults, will be more porn and video games. As a parent I have to encourage them to do activities and find a life outside of these tools.

The tools change as they always have. Radio, Television, Screens, Internet, Ai all are just tools. Tools for good or evil is always up to us. As long as human nature has mental illness roaming free, bad things can turn up paved with the best intentions. Fighting a Cluster B person requires you to get downright mean, and most wold rather leave that relationship then be like them. Balance in society is very hard to find.

I love the latest language/ dog whistle use of the word Equity. Karl Marx would be proud. What was once a word for finance people or home owners to describe the portion they own has now turned into some form of justice and fairness established by a mob.

"From each according to his ability, to each according to his needs" is your namesakes answer to your question, Karl Marx 1875

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Karl Dunn's avatar

I hear you mate. But again the problem always ends up being us. My partner saw it first hand living through the DDR. What I'm getting at here, is what would happen if we took ourselves willingly out of the decision equation. Porn and video is something I often think of as an escape for many folks. But if we were living a life where it didn't feel like you needed an escape from it, I wonder if that would change how we use our time.

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Yukon Dave's avatar

I love your optimistic thinking. I have a poster of Lenin (From a Moscow Subway) on my wall to this day to explain to my children and other young family members the beauty of his dream when it collided with the reality of human nature.

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Karl Dunn's avatar

Maybe we can get it right the second time around. Who knows

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