Between Silicon and Soul - Part 2
A three-part series on AI, ethics, looking back at what it means to be a human person from the lens of faith.
On January 22nd, I gave a keynote on AI at the Annual Meeting of the Gulf Churches Fellowship (GCF) in Dubai. The focus of the meeting was “Faithful Christian Responses to New Technology and Artificial Intelligence.”
I have been fascinated by the fantastic contributions that various faiths and religions worldwide make to the debates on ethical development and the use of AI and advanced technologies. While I will use follow-up re-stacks to point you to such contributions, I want to share what I said at the GCF annual meeting. I hope to hear your thoughts through comments or emailing me back.
In Part 1, I introduced the main thread of the speech: the aspiration to get a deeper understanding of what the human person is. Then, I went through an introduction to explain what AI is.
Here’s the second part. Enjoy!
In my second story, I'd like to share a personal journey that mirrors the shifts we're seeing in education and career paths due to technological advancements.
A few months ago, an undergraduate student asked me for career advice. He is discerning what to do after graduating.
Growing up, the path seemed straightforward: study hard, land a stable job, and stick with it until retirement. Many from my generation followed this route. I chose physics in my undergraduate years out of sheer interest, without a concrete plan for the future. It was during an internship at an insurance company that I discovered my passion for applying mathematics to economics, leading me to pursue a career as an actuary.
Being an actuary, akin to today's data scientist, involved creating statistical models and projections for insurance companies. I envisioned a career in this field until retirement. However, things took a turn in 2011. I remember enrolling in Robert Shiller's course on financial markets from Yale and, later, Andrew Ng's machine learning course on Coursera. This was a pivotal moment – my introduction to learning top-notch skills on my own.
These online resources allowed me to swiftly pivot my career towards AI and machine learning, reflecting a broader trend: the democratization of learning and the increasing importance of self-directed education, especially in technology-related fields.
Platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook made networking and transitioning to tech entrepreneurship significantly easier than it was for previous generations. Today, I question the traditional belief that university education is the only path to success in many fields, particularly technology. The tech industry, for instance, often values practical skills and hands-on experience over formal qualifications.
Yet, this abundance of choice and opportunity doesn't necessarily make decision-making easier.
To that student asking for career advice, I could have said, 'The world is your oyster. Follow your passion.' But, the paradox of choice can also lead to disorientation. It's not just about choosing what you love but navigating a sea of endless possibilities.
This brings us to a crucial aspect of our modern lives: the overwhelming abundance of choices and information. Consider the news we consume, the books we read, the relentless stream of emails and messages, and the never-ending entertainment flow from YouTube to TikTok. We're inundated with so much information that we've turned to AI algorithms to help us filter and decide.
But this raises a profound question: Does relying on algorithms to make choices for us actually enhance our freedom, or does it make us more susceptible to trends, fashions, and external influences? Is true freedom simply about having unlimited choices?
I remember a conversation with my spiritual director, Father Fabio when I was around 19 or 20 years old. I had broken my leg and was feeling frustrated about my limited mobility. Father Fabio, with a touch of irony, said, 'There's nothing better than a constrained situation.' This remark stayed with me, highlighting a paradox: too much choice can be paralyzing, while constraints can sometimes make decision-making clearer.
We're navigating between two extremes: on one side, the desire for constraints to avoid the overwhelming task of choosing; on the other, the pursuit of unconstrained freedom. But do we truly understand how to use this freedom wisely?
Consider significant life decisions like choosing a marriage partner, a religious vocation, a university major, or even whom to vote for in an election. These choices require time, understanding, and critical judgment. Yet, increasingly, we find ourselves in a world where discernment is being replaced by the convenience of algorithmic decisions. Dating apps, for instance, use AI to create statistically compatible matches, potentially reducing the complexity of human relationships to data points.
As technology races forward, we often adopt new tools and services without pausing to consider their implications. This rushed embrace of technological progress can lead to suboptimal choices and, perhaps, a gradual erosion of our human freedom. It's a reminder to us all, especially in our roles as faith leaders and community members, to reflect on how we navigate this new digital landscape.
Let's reflect on a historical parallel to understand our current predicament. When the printing press was invented, it revolutionized how information was disseminated, shaping public opinion in unprecedented ways. Before the press, people relied more on imagination and personal storytelling; they were harder to influence en masse. But with the advent of the press, forming a collective opinion became much easier.
Think back to the time of Jesus, when communication was primarily from person to person. Today, we're bombarded with information, yet our communication has diminished. We’re on mute. We're at risk of becoming more passive information consumers, losing our depth in communication and critical thinking.
Time is an essential dimension of our existence. We grow, learn, and evolve. Critical thinking and decision-making require time to process information, analyze, and adapt. But in our fast-paced world, where everything moves at breakneck speed, do we really have enough time to make well-considered choices?
Psychologist Daniel Kahneman's System 1 and System 2 thinking concepts are relevant here. System 1 is our fast, automatic, and often emotional response, while System 2 is slower, more deliberate, and logical. Much of today's technology caters to System 1, fostering addiction and immediate gratification. This approach can be profitable in the short term but often leads to societal problems, particularly among vulnerable groups like teenagers. We’ve seen it with social media and its awful impact on teens’ mental health.
The rapid adoption of technology, driven by a fear of missing out, can be detrimental. When we don't take the time to assess new technologies critically, we may inadvertently support practices that are harmful in the long run, both to individuals and to society as a whole. This is not just a problem for consumers; it can also lead to negative consequences for companies and the economy over time.
So, as we must adequately discern the place of ever-evolving and smarter technologies in our lives and society at large, it's important to remember the value of taking time for thoughtful decision-making, of balancing our quick, intuitive responses with more profound, more considered reflection.
In the next part, I’ll dive a little deeper into the topic of human freedom I hinted at.
Let me know your thoughts, and stay tuned for the final part next week.
Have a lovely weekend!