From Reaction to Reflection: AI, Consciousness, and the Path to the Singularity [Newsletter #55]

Hello, AI enthusiasts from around the world.

Welcome to this week’s newsletter for the AI and the Future of Work podcast.

Philosophy has always been a deeply human discipline.

Now, it might be more relevant than ever.

Philosophical conversations help us develop perception.

And perception is a key part of intelligence, both human and artificial.

That’s why this week’s guest reminds us to keep that perspective in mind as AI and humanity continue to converge.

Let’s dive into this week’s highlights! 🚀

🎙️ New Podcast Episode With Anders Indset, philosopher and author

How would life unfold if we handed everything to AI? In his book “The Quantum Economy”, Anders Indset proposes that the economy is society’s operating system.

And like any system, it depends on stability. We build our lives around that idea.

But Anders adds a twist.

What happens when we hand over that stability to algorithms, and eventually to AI?

When the book came out in 2019, it was critically acclaimed. Readers considered his ideas futuristic and his theories radical.

Now, he wants to change that. Why? 

“It was too conservative,” he told Dan Turchin, PeopleReign CEO, when they sat down to talk about the intersection of philosophy and AI in the present and future. 

Back then, Anders believed these changes were coming in twenty years. Now, he’s rewriting the book with a new timeline: two years.

He’s pushing for a new economic model that values efficiency over growth. Owning and consuming just for the sake of it, he argues, is wearing us down. If we shift our focus, well-being could follow.

Not as a utopia, but as something real and achievable.

Anders Indset is a Norwegian philosopher, author, tech investor, and speaker. He’s often called “the business philosopher” and is known for his philosophical sparring sessions with CEOs.

His experience includes founding the Global Institute of Leadership and Technology in 2012, serving on the supervisory board of the German Tech Entrepreneurship Center, and being an early investor in the Swiss deep tech company Terra Quantum AG.

In this week’s episode, Anders and Dan discuss how AI’s rapid progress is forcing us to rethink everything:

• Truth and reflection are no longer priorities. We're focused only on reactions.

• We shouldn't aim to create superintelligent Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) systems. Instead, we should direct our efforts toward enhancing human potential first.

• As AI optimizes or even replaces many jobs, our fulfillment will come from action. Creation, not consumption, will drive our purpose.

• If we replicate human intelligence without consciousness, we lose what makes us human: perception.

🎧 This week's episode of AI and the Future of Work, featuring Anders Indset, inspired this issue.

🎧 Listen to the full episode to hear more about how Anders believes we should focus our efforts on developing AI systems that improve our lives and give them purpose, all through the perspective of philosophy.

📖 AI Fun Fact Article

Geoffrey Hinton once received a call in the middle of the night. Startled, he picked up the phone and found out he had won the Nobel Prize in physics.

It came as a surprise. He never expected that kind of recognition because, in his view, he had failed his goal. He wanted to figure out how the brain works, and that’s no small task.

While he didn’t achieve that, he did create the foundational concept behind today’s large language models. It’s one of the reasons he’s known as the “Godfather of AI”.

Recently, CBS News reporter Analisa Novak wrote about Hinton’s interview with Brook Silva-Braga, where he reflected on how quickly AI has evolved.

The pace has been faster than he expected.

He now believes that within twenty years, machines could become superintelligent or outperform humans in nearly every task. His earlier prediction was thirty to fifty years.

If that happens, humans could benefit in major ways. Better healthcare, more access to education, treatments for rare diseases, and even possible solutions to climate change.

But there’s also a downside.

Hinton expects many mundane jobs to disappear. Secretarial work, call centers, and paralegal roles may be among the first to go.

He also warns that there’s a non-zero probability that AI could bypass guardrails and cause harm. He adds that we simply don’t have enough data yet to say how likely that is.

Dan Turchin, PeopleReign CEO, reminds us that when Geoffrey Hinton speaks, it’s worth listening.

Hinton left Google years ago because he was concerned the company was prioritizing AI profits over safety.

He continues to criticize all major AI labs for their cavalier attitudes and lack of investment in preventing low-probability but potentially catastrophic AI scenarios.

He was the most vocal advocate for AI, long before the recent period of acceleration.

We can create a world where AI is both ubiquitous and safe for humans. Let's require everyone developing AI, whether Google or a startup, to build ethics and guardrails into their development and testing processes.

Worth a Read! 📚

📣 Share your Thoughts and Leave a Review!

Until next time, stay curious! 🤔

That's a Wrap for This Week!

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