AI as "Alternative Intelligence"

 "Alternative Intelligence" - June 4th 2023

We are on the cusp of outsourcing intelligence, yet everyone is focused on the wrong aspects of this seismic change. Plus Why are psychologists, Human behavioral scientists, and the like, not deeply engaged in these discussions?

Anyway.

Like most, or non of you, I have been following developments in artificial intelligence with great intent, cough, I mean interest for some time. As someone fascinated by human psychology, behavior, intelligence, and the workings of the mind, I have been intrigued by the rise of these, because they might not be human-like intelligence, but at the end of the day,  they're some kind of "intelligence".    But too much of the discussion has centered on the artificial component of AI. 

Instead, we should rebrand the AI  term as “Alternative intelligence” to shift the conversation toward how we can harness its power rather than stoke fears about it. Words matter, names matter; how people think about something matters. and that's greatly influenced by what it's called in the first place.

By reframing the issue, we can finally finally focus on using it for that: alternative intelligence.

We as a species have outsourced a lot over our 200,000 years of existence. We outsourced: 

A) Math to calculators. 

B) Heavy lifting to machines.  

C) Walking to cars.  

D) Memory to hard drives and phones—we no longer need to remember vivid details of our trip to Paris; our cameras and Google Photos can do that for us, as with events calendars, etc. We no longer need to keep mental calendars and schedules. 

 

Now, for the first time in history, we have the opportunity to outsource intelligence itself.  Our endeavors as a species have been greatly influenced by outsourcing things we have to do, and we have done this successfully over time. The tools we outsourced to helped make the respective things faster, better and helped us advance into new fields. 

Calculators led to new branches of mathematics and new technologies like computers and automated manufacturing.

Cars did far more than simply accelerate transportation; they reshaped societies, economies, and the built environment.  

For the first time in history, we have an opportunity to outsource one of the most important aspects of our existence, something that defines and sets us apart: intelligence. More so creative intelligence ,Who knows what power that could unleash and inevitably provide us?

But instead of focusing on that, capitalists and those who profit from fearmongering are busy painting the wrong picture. As a consequence, we might miss out on truly exploring and using these tools for what they’re capable of and the power they could enable.    

As more people fear “alternative intelligence” and more people use it, the greater the divide will be. Picture the power outsourcing raw power to steam engines gave to those who used it versus those who didn’t, and how that played out over long periods of history. The same thing will happen if we don’t start looking at these tools for the power they will enable us with and start enabling everyone with that power so we can move forward as a species instead of ending up causing greater divides and inequality.  

Unlike previous outsourced tools, this one is different: This one doesn’t need heavy machinery to be shipped; this one isn’t a “one way of using it” tool. 

This is power to everyone for everyone to use as they see fit. to see what can come out of it. It’s not a one-way, one-kind, one-thing-driven revolution. 

This is everyone in their own capacity being given a boost, which is something that could help our species in ways we can’t imagine, and it won’t even cost us much. Please, let this power be given to everyone.   

Most people are fearing a “Terminator” scenario, but that’s out of ignorance. We all know the physical aspect of this is far behind. Robotics isn’t anywhere near creating what a human body in total can do; we are still far from that. People need to calm down and stop believing dystopian dynamics videos; they’re just trying to get funding. Right now, we are just perfecting specific tasks of the human body: lifting, walking, driving cars, etc. The full spectrum of human ability is not yet achievable. So calm down so we can focus on taking advantage of these tools. Plus, the people making you fear this know all this, and they know you will fear while they use the tools to get ahead.  Knowledge gaps are what have been causing humans problems for a long time. A clear example is Some figured out longitude and latitude and used that knowledge to cross oceans and enslave those who hadn’t yet figured things out, that was centuries ago. The same thing will happen if we don’t adapt early to these powerful tools.  We can’t afford to have parts of our species not know about or use them. It won’t end well for us as a species, and not because of robots or AI like everyone fears but because of ourselves.  

Also, Why is no one talking to psychologists or human behavioral scientists? Everyone is so focused on tech CEOs and rich firms' CEOs, yet these people are just CEOs. All they see is the capitalist profit and money. Yet there is a whole other side. These tools are about to help us outsource intelligence and creativity. From a human behavioral and psychological perspective, that’s a huge deal. So let’s hear what they have to say about how this will help us. Picture how few species have this ability.  

We have an opportunity to adapt to these tools and benefit from their power, or we can stay in the dark. It is up to each person and community to integrate this knowledge and determine for themselves the best path to progress,.

Written by Emmanuel Olimi Kasigazi,  Corrections, grammar and the Like by Claude. on June 4th 2023

images by Bing image creator: added on Nov 27th 2023