This podcast with Dr. Arthur Brooks and Simon Sinek is worth a listen.
They cover a lot, but one of my main takeaways was about the risk of outsourcing “the process” to AI.
Most things in life have a “use-it-or-lose-it” tendency:
Muscles, skills, qualities, character traits, etc.
And this is becoming increasingly important to keep in mind as AI becomes more powerful.
Given that we can now get results without having to go through the process previously required to generate them, we run the risk of impoverishing our inner lives.
As an example, I spent a full month writing this blog post on Nonduality and Consciousness:
https://lnkd.in/e5WwXTa9
The process of thinking through these ideas in depth reoriented my worldview, and I feel more at home on this planet as a result of writing it.
Although I could have produced a better result with a well thought out ChatGPT prompt, that misses the point:
Sometimes the process is the point.
The process is what changes us, deepens us, and reshapes us from the inside out.
I could also ask AI to give me 10 gift ideas for my brother’s birthday.
However, if I do so, I miss out on the opportunity to exercise my own creativity, thoughtfulness, and perspective-taking muscles.
And these are things I don’t want to lose.
So, as AI gets stronger, we need to be clear about what processes we’re not willing to outsource.
Otherwise, we’ll become like a marathon runner who takes a taxi to the finish line.
He might get there faster, but he misses out on all of the inner benefits and development he would have got if he’d actually run the race.
What about you? What processes will you refuse to outsource?
