Artificial Intelligence vs Real Ecology
Frankly #49
In this Frankly, a follow up to “One Ring to Rule Them All”, I want to unpack the common misconception that AI will be the answer to all our energy and ecological problems, specifically climate change.
As the development of AI continues to accelerate, many propose that we are entering the ‘Exponential Age’, yet what’s ignored is that we’ve just lived through an age of exponential impact on Earth’s systems. If we keep the same economic ‘operating system’, AI can at best act as a more powerful tool for the continuation of this phenomenon - actually the opposite of restoring ecological stability as many hope.
If AI is based on current cultural goals and aspirations, who will ultimately benefit and who will pay the costs? What types of solutions is AI capable of developing - and more importantly, where is the interplay of AI and human responsibility required to then implement those ideas to fruition? Is there an interplay of AI and human responsibility?
Previous Video on Artificial Intelligence…
In this Frankly, I refer to a favorite timeless book series, “The Lord of the Rings”, to describe ‘the nine rings for mortal men’ - evolutionary behavioral tendencies that are common among humans but become counterproductive within the context of our modern culture. These traits combine to drive the growth of the Superorganism -but they are pulled forward by the ‘one ring to rule them all’, which today is the positive feedbacks of power resulting from the synergy of agricultural surplus, fossil energy, money, and now Artificial Intelligence accelerating it all.
In case you missed it…
On this episode, political economist Helen Thompson and I discuss how energy and geopolitics have interconnected over the past century, building to the entangled political relationships we see around us today. The dynamics of power on a global scale are complex - stemming from access to energy, financial control, military strength, credibility/trust, and much more - yet we can understand these a bit better by learning the history that shaped them.
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AI can never be trained with the tacid knowledge of human experts, because this knowledge cannot be explicated. Tacid knowledge cannot be turned into data. Climate change cannot be solved, it can only be influenced. Problem solving belongs to a mechanistic world view. Problem solving is a rational form of meaning, which is a closed form. We need an ecological or evolutionary world view to counter balance the mechanical world view. A climate system and an ecological system are evolutionary forms of meaning, which are open forms. They are not designed and implemented by a rational mind. Just as Nate’s super-organism. A climate system and an ecological system can be seen as the meaning that nature gives. They are emerging patterns from all know and unknown influences appearing and disapperaing in dynamic reciprocal interaction.
AI = dangerous distraction.