I’m hardly a Luddite. But Artificial Intelligence (AI) I has little place in what I offer to real people.
I have a smart phone and enjoy the benefits of tech in many aspects of my life. And I do find AI helpful for creating some titles to my blog posts. But that’s about it.
What I’ve noticed is an uptick in AI-generated social media posts, images, blog posts and education…in the field of personal growth and emotional development. And to me, that’s disheartening (as well as a bit of an oxymoron).
BENEFITS AND LIMITATIONS
I understand AI can act as an assistant and prevent over-loaded humans from burning out. Obviously a quicker and cheaper solution than working the problem from the other side of the equation.
I understand AI can serve to suggest content ideas, or as an organizational template to those who struggle to relay their thoughts. Again, a cheaper and quicker alternative to taking a composition or writing class.
And I understand that AI can maybe even serve as an entry point to more skilled therapeutic intervention, by way of chat boxes and AI text-answering services.
But when it comes to lasting personal development, experience-based mentorship or creative content that reflects real human wisdom? I simply believe we humans do it better.
MAYBE IT'S JUST ME
Maybe I’m lucky to have endless ideas for content. I’ve lived 58 years so far and have a plethora of life experiences to draw from. I also took a writing class in college. So, I have decent skills for getting my thoughts across.
Maybe it’s just that I love seeing real photos of real people. Although many of us wear makeup, have tattoos, color hair or wear certain clothing as expressions of our personality, I can relate to all of that. Unrealistic, heavily augmented depictions of people just feel… cold and sort of distant to me.
Maybe I just enjoy hearing new thoughts and perspectives from individual humans enriched by emotion. For me, learning from a single first-hand experience enriched by emotion as well as intellect, is far more compelling than learning from aggregated content generated by AI. It’s like comparing a movie made in color and HDR versus one made in black and white. To me, when it comes to personal development AI simply lacks the depth and ‘color’ that only an individual lived, emotional experience can offer.
LET'S TALK ABOUT AUTHENTICITY
I’m not opposed to ALL uses of AI, as long as it’s used ethically and mindfully and remains centered around humanity. I'm simply pro-human. And authenticity is one of my core values.
The very definition of the word 'authentic' hinges on subjective, individual human affect and insight, including each person’s unique perspective and emotional experience. Therefore, to me AI does not represent authenticity.
How can it? AI doesn’t have a heart or soul.
It’s just code, designed and calibrated to get more clicks and shares, or make images look different than we really are. And the search results I’ve seen generated from the abundance of information (and misinformation) it draws from … oi. It makes me wonder if AI is designed more for believability than accuracy – an unsettling thought with so many people sharing what they learn from the internet.
However, I do see AI being more useful in some industries than it is in others. Businesses that require mundane, technical description or step-by-step instruction? Sure, I can see AI being helpful for that. But for human-centered fields like customer service, personal development and mental wellness, I sometimes wonder about how much heart-based mentorship AI can really offer, and what its long-effects on our interest might be.
THE FUTURE and a POSSIBLE SOLUTION
As we’re flooded with more and more of it, and it becomes harder to tell the difference between AI and authentic human experience, I wonder if people will slowly become numb to it, or we'll start to tune out. Will we lose touch with real meaning? Will human originality become a lost art?
And although many AI proponents will say that ‘some (support) is better than none’ in a world where therapists are overwhelmed with clients and limited resources prevent access to therapeutic support at all….
..I still sense we still need to use it responsibly, ethically and as a regulated supplement to what only humans can offer : insight and wisdom from real, lived experience and compassionate, emotional context.
In a sense, our relationship with AI is not too different than a relationship between two very different people: a relationship that needs BOUNDARIES in order to thrive.
INTERDEPENDENCE - Whether it's between different people, different species, or between humans and technology, interdependence is what allows for the strengths of each to flourish, but without negating the other. In other words, it's a complementary relationship.
Yet to maintain healthy individuality while being in partnership requires emotional stability (or at least effective emotional management) as well as agreed up boundaries that keep each participant from consuming the other. It seems this may be the case for our relationship with AI as well.
So, although personal photos and content at the Human Infusion Project may be imperfect, limited to my single life experience and this one human’s perspective on emotion, human relationships and everything I’ve studied and self-applied, they do reflect 'me' and were created by this imperfect human - ‘warts and all’.
If you’re someone who appreciates this and embraces being fully human as you navigate your growth experience and relationships, stick around. It’s what I do. Messy and imperfect sometimes. But hey, that’s what REAL humans are. And I love it.
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The Human Infusion Project is a grassroots, not-for-profit personal development platform that draws from the combined fields of modern brain science, applied psychology and spiritual philosophy. Our mission aims to augment and supplement the work of professional practitioners in simplified, practical ways, and to give clients an affordable home program they can use in between sessions. 100% of all online class profit funds the Wellness Assistance Grant. If financial constraints limit your participation, please contact me and we'll work something out.
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