DeepSummary
This podcast episode delves into the rise of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and its far-reaching implications that go beyond technological advancements. The host argues that the power AI grants to manipulate reality is akin to the mythical abilities of sorcerers and magicians, blurring the line between the real and imaginary. He explores the deep, unconscious drives fueling the pursuit of AI, such as the longing for mystery, awe, and a world governed by forces greater than ourselves.
The host suggests that the AI conversation is not just about scientific ethics or regulatory measures but needs to be approached through a mythic lens. He draws parallels between AI development and the initiatory processes of ancient mystery schools, where access to world-altering knowledge was slowly embodied over time. The episode questions whether modern society, driven by haste and disembodiment, is truly prepared to handle such mythic powers responsibly.
The host emphasizes the need for a return to embodied ethics and a deeper understanding of what it means to truly know something. He argues that knowledge cannot be disembodied and must be felt in our bones, woven into our tissues over time. The episode invites us to reconsider our relationship with technology, to slow down, and to rediscover the initiatory processes that can guide us in wielding these mythic powers with wisdom and accountability.
Key Episodes Takeaways
- The rise of Artificial Intelligence grants humanity powers akin to those of sorcerers and magicians from myths and stories.
- The pursuit of AI is driven by unconscious desires for mystery, awe, and a world governed by forces greater than ourselves.
- Approaching AI solely through scientific ethics and regulatory measures is inadequate; a mythic lens and embodied ethics are needed.
- Modern society, driven by haste and disembodiment, may not be prepared to handle the mythic powers of AI responsibly.
- Knowledge cannot be disembodied; it must be felt, woven into our tissues over time through initiatory processes.
- A return to embodied ethics and a deeper understanding of what it means to truly know something is crucial in the age of AI.
- Slowing down and rediscovering initiatory processes can guide us in wielding the mythic powers of AI with wisdom and accountability.
- AI challenges us to re-evaluate our relationship with technology and re-familiarize ourselves with our innate ways of knowing.
Top Episodes Quotes
- “There's an old story, an old, old story, and I'm sure you've heard it. It was told in ancient Egypt and then it resurfaced a couple thousand years later in 18th century Germany.“ by Joshua Michael Schrei
- “We need there to be an element of this world that is out of our control. We need to flirt with the powers of the other world. We need these things moving and circulating through our lives, or else our lives become stale.“ by Joshua Michael Schrei
- “The rise of AI might cause us to re familiarize ourselves with our own innate ways of knowing, to ask ourselves what intelligence actually is. As we find our way back to the foundational understanding that knowledge lives in bodies. This is what knowing is.“ by Joshua Michael Schrei
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Episode Information
The Emerald
Joshua Schrei
7/12/23
The rise of Artificial Intelligence has generated a rush of conversation about benefits and risks, about sentience and intelligence, and about the need for ethics and regulatory measures. Yet it may be that the only way to truly understand the implications of AI — the powers, the potential consequences, and the protocols for dealing with world-altering technologies — is to speak mythically. With the rise of AI, we are entering an era whose only corollary is the stuff of fairy tales and myths. Powers that used to be reserved for magicians and sorcerers — the power to access volumes of knowledge instantaneously, to create fully realized illusory otherworlds, to deceive, to conjure, to transport, to materialize on a massive scale — are no longer hypothetical. The age of metaphor is over. The mythic powers are real. Are human beings prepared to handle such powers? While the AI conversation centers around regulatory laws, it may be that we also need to look deeper, to understand the chthonic drives at play. And when we do so, we see that the drive to create AI goes beyond narratives of ingenuity, progress, profit, or the creation of a more controllable, convenient world. Buried deep in this urge to tinker with animacy and sentience are core mythic drives — the longing for mystery, the want to live again in a world of great powers beyond our control, the longing for death, and ultimately, the unconscious longing for guidance and initiation. Traditionally, there was an initiatory process through which potentially world-altering knowledge was embodied slowly over time. And so… what needs to be done about ‘The AI question’ might bear much more of a resemblance to the guiding principles of ancient magic and mystery schools than it does to questions of scientific ethics — because the drives at play are deeper and the consequences greater and the magic more real than it’s ever been before. Buckle up for a wild ride through myths of magic and human overreach, and all the kung fu movie and sci fi references you can handle. Featuring music by Charlotte Malin and Sidibe. Listen on a good sound system at a time when you can devote your full attention.