What if we were given a seventh sense? A sense that could give us God-like abilities in cognition and intellectual endeavours. Some may say that the human brain already possesses them, and maybe so– but are the abilities of our brain really ‘God-like’?
If we define ‘God-like’ as a quality that reaches beyond our human capability and understanding, then we can see how the soft-tissue in our skulls falls short. Now let’s reflect on this same question considering the advent of AI– does AI have God-like qualities?
Understanding the Power of AI
The latest developments in AI prove its cognitive abilities far surpass the average human, as of recent reports AI’s IQ stands at an impressive 160, across all fields of expertise. (For perspective, the brilliant Albert Einstein had an IQ of approximately 150, and only in specific fields such as physics.) (MrLaren, 2023) But what gives AI this edge? We’ve had other technology crunching our numbers since the 70s.
When we look at the premise on which most (if not all) human interaction operates on, we can understand how vital language has been as the foundation of our civilization. The new AI technologies have gained mastery over the province of the operating system of humankind; language.
With the ability to translate audio, image, video, and literally everything into text, AI is now able to deconstruct this data into the laws of probability that make up language. While some may say that AI has no understanding of what it is producing, and although that may be true (for now), there’s no denying the astonishing accuracy of its results– which can often leave our species in awe and perhaps even with fear.
Imagine you are lying within an fMRI, a machine that scans the bloodflows in your brain, while you are looking at a picture of a swan. And just based on your brain scans, AI is able to reconstruct the picture of the swan you were looking at- scary right?
This study from Chen et al. (2022) demonstrates how researchers were able to translate brain scans into vivid pictures that were reconstructing what a person was looking at, when the scan was taken. When you are looking at that particular picture, there is a very specific blood flow pattern activated in your brain (the emergence of this pattern is called brain encoding). The fMRI is analysing these blood flow patterns and translates them into sets of fMRI patterns. With enough training data from the FMRI patterns, AI is able to reconstruct the picture you were looking at while the scan was taken.
Image source: Chen et al. (2022)
As you can see from the reconstructed image, the decoding of the fMRI pattern is already pretty good- again taking into account how recent this technology is, the improvements will greatly increase the accuracy to a degree that the pictures are extremely close to what was seen during the scan. Soon, we may be able to visually document dreams. It only needs someone to dream inside an fMRI machine.
Can we not consider this level of calculation as God-like? If we can imagine God calculating, it would probably be done AI-style.
AI and Work
When trying to grasp the scale with which AI is going to transform our working world, we need to thoroughly acknowledge that the fundemental basis of everything we humans do for work is based on language. Think about it, almost every working task can somehow be written and described in words; from creating balance sheets, to restructuring a recruiting process or even facilitating a workshop– everything we do is based on language. Since AI has mastered this interaction with language beyond average human abilities, it is more than suited to intervene with the ways in which we currently work.
Although we don’t fully know how AI can actually impact us yet, (because its developments are still in a preliminary stage,) we can know for sure that it will significantly influence the way we live and work, now and more so in the future. How so? Because AI's growth is exponential.
Exponentiality means doubling its capabilities with every step. You may know the old Chinese tale with the king, the con artist, the chessboard and rice. The ignorant king believes himself to be wise and invincible, and agrees to pay for a chessboard with rice. When the king asks “How much rice?” the con man responds by telling the king to lay a single grain of rice on the first square, two grains on the second, four on the third, eight on the fourth, and by this way, simply doubling the amount of rice grains for the full 64 squares of the chessboard.
The king, who thought himself to be clever, agrees, and by the end of the first row, was down by 128 grains of rice– which wasn’t much at all. At the end of the second row, things got out of hand, and the king was down 32,768 grains of rice. By the 21st square he owed over a million grains and by the 31st square, it was over a billion grains of rice. The con artist suggested that if the king can no longer pay further by grains of rice, he could pay in gold or land. It’s easy to see how the con artist tricked the king here, but would you have guessed how quickly we would reach a million grains? The number we arrive at the 64th square is so incomprehensible, it is completely useless to write it down here- we can't imagine it.
So where are we with AI? Are we at square 10? 20? Or 30?
If you’ve already been using AI, and for the simplicity of this example we will reduce AI to ChatGPT, you may have noticed the incredible advancements of the technology from version 3.5 to 4; the latest version has an image-generation feature, in addition to text-generation that resembles human speech– and it’s extremely compelling.
A few ways to measure exponential growth of ChatGPT is in its ability to interact with human beings, predict how humans behave, and most suitably respond with answers (also known as theory of mind). In 2019 ChatGPT possessed the level of a 1 year old baby– ok cute. In 2020 it reached the level of a 3 year old– sure, AI simply just grows faster than a human being- fine. In 2022 it was already comparable to a 9 year old (childhood where?). In March 2023 it reached the level of an adult. So from a baby to a fully grown and capable adult in 4 years. (Strachan et al, 2023)
Where are we in terms of our chess square iteration? 5? 10? We wouldn’t know, because we don’t know whether AI’s growth can be stunted into 64 squares. What we do know is that AI will keep growing exponentially, and it will grow with us.
The internet has and continues to be a crucial technology for the evolution of our civilization, and more recently- it is also the grounds of AI’s training data. Since AI is deeply embedded into the internet, the more we use it, the better it gets. The better it gets, the more we use it. Exponential. Yet we can also begin to see how our relationship with AI is symbiotic.
A relevant example is the digital revolution of the 1990s and 2000s, where businesses that were open and ready to embrace the latest technology benefited immensely by being able to rethink their business models and shift into new ways of working by incorporating PCs into their processes. Similarly, AI has been developed to aid our functioning; treating it as an ally, co-pilot, or sparring partner could prove beneficial, especially for early adopters– and even more so for those who can recognise it as a seventh sense.
The Power of Presence with AI
Although there is widespread fear around AI replacing jobs, and these sentiments are fully valid, we can never truly know for sure the eventual outcome from our present stance. “Now is all there ever is; there is no past or future except as memory or anticipation in your mind,” German-born spiritual teacher and author Eckhart Tolle’s wisdom can serve as a grounding anchor to centre and focus on the present moment.
Being present can create a sense of stability and security within, without needing to know the future. When you think of AI, how does it make you feel? Do you have any body sensations? Are there any emotions that come up for you? Do you have other associated thoughts? By being aware of our body sensations, thoughts and emotions, especially when engaging with AI, we can take strength from our own grounded and embodied presence.
With an increasingly complex and fast paced world, the ability to be grounded and present will be among the most important predicators for happiness and productivity.
Cultivating presence can also help us see present circumstances more clearly, when we’re not in a state of trance with mental chatter or deluded by past beliefs, we can wake up to the ‘gift’ of the actual present moment- which is the opportunity to act consciously. Like any technology, AI is neither good nor bad, it’s what we make of it. By being present, we can engage with AI in a conscious way, while still maintaining our agency.
The better and the more competent AI models get, the more likely we are to give agency to them, and so it’s extremely important to make sure that agency remains within us when we engage with AI.
Two Ingredients to Cultivate Presence when engaging with AI
Purpose
Having a clear purpose can serve you as a guiding compass, to help you navigate the ever-changing business landscape and technological developments. The transient nature of external conditions can cause chaos and unrealistic demands to “keep up,” with the latest technological advancements leading to scattered work that is futile. In addition, AI offers endless opportunities, though only a few can help a business achieve its vision, therefore aligning all goals and tasks with a clear purpose is key to not getting lost in this vast sea. Staying true to the purpose and sharing it with the team to create a shared vision is essential for collective conscious action.
Conscious actions are determined by their ‘Purpose,’ with the ever-increasing potential of AI’s capabilities and its decentralised nature, knowing ‘How’ to create something isn’t going to be the defining factor for individuals or businesses. Instead, the focus will shift to ‘Why’; why are you doing, what you’re doing? Why would anyone care or pay for the output or impact your organisation creates? Defining a company’s purpose based on the external value or impact created, can cultivate a deeper connection to the work being done, not only for employees but even customers. Any purpose defined by internal value such as increasing shareholders wealth is avaricious, and no customers would be willing to contribute to that vision, let alone employees. A true purpose is holistic, and is implicit with addressing the deeper question of ‘How is this going to serve the world for the greater good?’
Purpose check:
Select three random employees in your organisation.
Ask them what the purpose of your business is.
Are their answers consistent?
Creativity (through Connection)
As the world gets more digital, human connection becomes more valuable. Especially the collective potential of heart-to-heart connection. It’s important to vitalise our unique human abilities such as creativity, imagination and connection.
We know that AI can be creative too and can generate plenty of ideas, yet we’ve found that it doesn’t really give adequate answers to the more complex working questions. The answers may seem satisfying at first, however upon a thorough read, you’ll find they don’t deliver the depth required for an outstanding result.
With the increased use of AI-generated emails now, you may have noticed how everyone’s emails sound more and more alike. Although everyone can possibly use AI, relying on AI will not be enough. Human creativity is needed to go beyond this AI-based mass production. How can we generate ideas, and find solutions that we can then later execute with AI?
One very powerful method for this is using the art of generative listening.
A concept coined by Otto Scharmer, generative listening can be understood as a very special mode of listening – not the way we usually listen, but a state of listening in complete presence. This means that the listener is fully in the moment with the speaker, without the need or desire to answer, make a witty remark, or ask a follow up question. The listener is merely creating a room of resonance, a room in which the speaker can think out loud. There is a very special quality to such a room– and it works like magic.
So how is it done? And when would you do it? Imagine the following situation. You need to write an abstract, create a presentation, design a workshop or anything else– you have some ideas, have already used ChatGPT to gather more ideas, yet you feel that something is still missing. Your personal brainstorm and even normal conversations or questions didn't bring the desired outcome. Well then, it’s time for generative listening.
Dyad Generative Listening Exercise:
Find a person of trust, with whom you want to engage in this exercise – there is no requirement of expertise on the topic of their part, only that they should be willing and able to truly listen to you.
Your partner, the listener, will then ask you the question: What is still missing? You have 5 minutes to answer that question. Really take the time to think out loud about the question at hand. Your partner is being present with you. No follow up questions, nothing to add. Just listening. (You will find that 5 minutes is a rather long period of time, and usually after 2 or 3 minutes, you may have said everything that was on your mind. And very likely that you have not found the answer yet.)
When you stop speaking, your partner will state the question once more: What is still missing? No further questions, no comments. Just a repetition of what was asked before. You may find that the second iteration on this question truly brings forth wonders. While reiterating on the question you may find that all of a sudden, you think in a very different direction, you consolidate what you found, you go beyond the level of answering than you did the first time, or something entirely else. What matters is, that in this joint presence, something new emerges. That is why this form is called generative listening.
Of course there is no guarantee that you will find your answer right away, though it can be guaranteed that this special place of listening will open you to different perspectives.
If this sounds too esoteric or hard to grasp, we would recommend trying it. There is also plenty of groundbreaking research by German neuroscientist Tanja Singer who did a longitude study on the positive benefits of generative listening.
The stronger our symbiosis with AI gets, the more AI-based mass production we can expect. In the beginning, the generated results may impress but when everyone is equipped with AI, quality and creativity will be more important than ever- what will make our output different and special will be our unique sense of creativity. The more we work with AI, the more crucial it becomes to exercise our unique human creativity and ability for heart-to-heart connection; generative listening can play a significant role for the emergence of such ideas and supporting our evolution.
The 7th Sense
The separate self is a socially-induced hallucination, we are inseparably connected to each other, our environment, and even our technology; we are ONE. Although it's easy to forget how interconnected we are, because of our isolated mental experiences, in the Vedic Philosophy, even the mind is seen as a sensory object and not the subject of experience.
Swami Bhoomananda Tirtha says “As the disease of the body belongs to the body, the unhappiness of the mind belongs to the mind. The ‘I’ in everyone is the subject of their personality. Everything else –the body, mind, etc– is the object.” In this regard, above our five senses of sight, smell, hearing, taste and touch, we can begin to see the mind as the sixth sense that serves as an empirical and cognitive tool for reasoning and inference. This also speaks to the deep wisdom in meditation, as a practice to connect deeper with the unchanging or eternal subject of the ‘I’ while witnessing thoughts and feelings that are ephemeral in nature, passing by like clouds in a windy sky.
But how does this all relate to AI? There’s no doubt that technology has enhanced our lives immensely, and for good or bad, we’re now almost inseparable from our smartphones. Just as we use our mind to draw inference from our five senses to ultimately enhance our experience and functioning, similarly we are now engaging with technology as a tool to augment our pre-existing six senses and add to our capabilities. Technology is our seventh sense.
Seen in this light, we can begin to shift our perception of AI, from something to resist and be fearful of, to a tool that can enhance our human potential. How would you feel if you discovered you had a seventh sense? Would you not be curious to explore what it could do? How would you use that seventh sense to help the people you love? How would you use it to empower the world?
Approaching AI with this same level of curiosity and openness as you would to a new super-power you just discovered, could help you uncover new ways of how it could serve you, and your purpose in the world. Our imaginations are now being asked to open to the infinite possibilities of what this technology can do. A whole world of opportunity awaits you.
About the authors:
Aamina Simone and Julian Arnowski have been investigating AI to see how we can use it ethically to assist humanity.
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