Counterbalance

My Takeaways from TEDAI - Part 3

Today is election day.  And, part 3 of my three-part TEDAI series (part 1 and part 2).  I had mixed emotions about what to write on such a meaningful day.  So, I turned to my automated horoscope for advice.  I am a Virgo.

But, first, I consulted with ChatGPT for a proper definition of a Virgo and got back:

A Virgo is the astrological sign for people born between approximately August 23 and September 22, ruled by the planet Mercury. Represented by the symbol of the Virgin or Maiden, Virgos are often associated with qualities like practicality, meticulousness, reliability, and analytical thinking. Virgo is the sixth sign in the zodiac, and it’s an Earth sign, known for being grounded, organized, and detail-oriented. Those with a Virgo sun sign are commonly seen as diligent, thoughtful, and conscientious, often valuing order, health, and efficiency.

My horoscope today from Tarot.com read: 

November 5, 2024: Learning something new presently has the potential to shake up assumptions you've held your whole life. Are you obligated to tell the whole world about this incongruity right away? Part of you may be eager to spread the news. Still, you might be better off digging deeper into things on your own for the time being. You're likely on to a significant discovery, but there's probably more to it than meets the eye. Make sure you know the whole story before announcing anything.

Ironically, my Grammarly did not like the language construction of either ChatGPT or Tarot and wanted to correct the sentence structures.  I have a Grammarly extension on my Chrome to help me with my grammar. 

What to do?  My practical, meticulousness, and reliable sides of me are at odds with the Mercury in Jupiter's advice to not spread the news of AI widely.  Well, I have a part 3 to deliver today, so my ChatGPT definition wins out over my daily automated horoscope.  And Grammarly is just going to have to bite its silicon tongue and deal with my carbon writing.

OBSERVATIONS

As I continue to reflect on my TEDAI experience, I have flashbacks to speakers and their body language.  One of the speakers from a prominent Silicon Valley VC waxed on poetically about her portfolio companies and how they were driving down the cost of human capital.  She was proud of the cost savings and FTEs eliminated as a result of improved AI impacts.

It was the smile while speaking about all of this that hit me wrong.  I wondered how she would feel if she were to be replaced by an AI portfolio manager at her VC firm.  After all, engaging with a high-growth startup can replicated by AI tracking the performance of the market, the company, and its projections. It may even forecast a more accurate outcome than what she could envision.  Why do you need a human to do that?  

Reid Hoffman was interviewed by CNBC’s Julia Boorstin about AI and where this is all going.  The topic was mostly centered around “agency” and how we are going to need to evolve and deal with machines that can reason and potentially advance beyond our ability to control the outcome. 

I am a fanboy of Reid’s. I respect that he is even-handed in his commentary and how we need to be mindful and diligent about building guardrails and ethical guidance into foundational LLM and future sub-models that are accelerating by the day.  

The idea of “agency” is being tossed around in many circles.  The topic of politics came up and how we are divided amongst billionaires pursuing riches and controls of AI at what cost to society?  Reid was very diplomatic in his response and offered the reality that AI in the wrong hands, with the wrong intentions is a concern going forward. 

COUNTERBALANCE

I am currently reading Nexus: A Brief History of Information Networks From the Stone Age to AI, by Yuval Noah Harari.  I am not generally a history buff, but as I get older, I find I am going backward to learn about root causes and first principles as I deal with a life being impacted by the speed of change.

Harari takes you on a journey into the concepts of religion and ideologies as information networks that have evolved and endured over time.  From human-to-human chains to human-to-document chains that told and passed along stories.  Books and stories that we hold gospel today.  

He speaks to the concepts of being “infallible” and having “checks and balances” to offset the idea of being infallible. No one is infallible - especially religions and ideologies.  

We have progressed from a human-to-document to a human-to-computer chain to a new computer-to-computer chain that is now able to change the concept of an information network. One that was always dominated by a human factor. 

“The inventions of writing, print, and radio revolutionized the way humans connected to one another, but no new types of members were introduced to those networks. Human societies were composed of the same Sapiens before both before and after the invention of writing or radio. In contrast, the invention of computers constitutes a revolution in membership…Computers could potentially become more powerful members than humans.”

Harai goes on to speak about “hacking the operating system of human civilization” and that by gaining such command of language, computers are seizing the master key unlocking doors of all of our institutions, from banks to temples. We use language to create not just legal codes and financial devices, but also art, science, nations, and religions. 

“Prior to the rise of AI, all the stories that shaped human societies originated in the imagination of a human being.” 

AND THEN WHAT

Harai points out that through their mastery of language, computers could go a step further. By conversing and interacting with us, computers could form intimate relationships with people and then use the power of intimacy to influence us. 

This is already playing out with AI Agents.  The movie HER was one of the first sci-fi to become a real-fi kind of visceral experience for this reality back in 2013.  OpenAI even tried to buy and then illegally use Scarlett Johansson’s voice as the voice of ChatGPT in 2023 to emulate that humanistic connection.  (It was a play on the 10th anniversary of the release of HER). 

The wake-up call from Harari's book for me is represented in this paragraph:

“What should be clear from the start is that this network (computer-based network) will create entirely novel political and personal realities. The main message of this previous chapters has been that information isn’t truth and that information revolutions don’t undercover the truth. They create new political structures, economic models, and cultural norms.  Since the current information revolution is more momentous than any previous information revolution, it is likely to create unprecedented realities on an unprecedented scale.” 

The position of “we are just a platform” will no longer serve us as a society reliant on humans getting along.  

If ever there was a call to action to make sure we realize and guardrail what are creating and that it has far-reaching consequences - it is NOW. 

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NOW (How you are realizing this today)

1. Do you have a position on how AI is being used? 

2. Do you understand the ins and outs of foundational LLM models? 

3. How are you using AI today?     

NEW (How you will realize this tomorrow)

1. I will get involved with AI governance groups to better understand the game. 

2. I will read Nexus over the holidays to gain perspective. 

3. I will share my fear of becoming obsolete with people who can help me see alternatives that I can’t see.  

NEXT (I see a world in which) 

I see a world in which we will either succumb to the evolution of AI or we will achieve some level of counterbalance to maintain a human in the loop at all times as AI progresses forward.  

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THE PAYOFF

“The tech giants also have a direct line to people’s emotional system, and they are masters at swaying the whims of customers and voters. If the tech giants obey the wishes of voters and customers, but at the same time also mold these wishes, then who really controls whom?”  ~ Yuval Noah Harari, Author, Nexus 

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My work has raised a collective $1B+ for the companies I have worked with over the last 10 years.  And, I have helped dozens of companies and executives to find their narrative voice.  More importantly, I help companies to listen to their own voice.