LLMs are the latest progression in decades of technology and social changes that leave people less connected and less capable in exchange for more comfort. I think it's likely that AI technology eclipses humans at least partially by atrophying our own skills and abilities, particularly 1. our ability to endure discomfort in service of a goal and 2. our capacities to make decisions.
I don't really know what to do about it, even with ground rules of engagement, we all still need to participate in a larger culture where it seems like it's a runaway guarantee that LLMs erode more critical skills that leave us with less and a handful of companies who develop this tech with more.
I'm slowly changing my life around what LLMs tell me, but not necessarily in the ways you'd expect:
1. I have a very simple set of rules of engagement for LLMs. For work, I don't let LLMs write code, and I won't let myself touch an LLM before suffering on a project for an hour at least.
2. I am an experienced meditator with a lot of experience in the Buddhist tradition. I've dusted off my Christian roots, and started exploring these ideas with new eyes, partially from a James Hillman-esq / Rob Burbea Soulmaking Dharma look. I've found a lot of meaning in personal fabrication and myth, and my primary practice now is Centering Prayer.
3. I've been working for a little while on a personal edu-tech idea with the goal of using LLM tech as an auxiliary tech to help people re-develop lost metacognitive skills and not use LLMs as a crutch. I don't know if this will ever see the light of day, it is currently more of a research project than anything, and it has a certain kind of iconoclastic frame like Piotr Wozniak's around what education is and what it should look like.
I don't really know what to do about it, even with ground rules of engagement, we all still need to participate in a larger culture where it seems like it's a runaway guarantee that LLMs erode more critical skills that leave us with less and a handful of companies who develop this tech with more.
I'm slowly changing my life around what LLMs tell me, but not necessarily in the ways you'd expect:
1. I have a very simple set of rules of engagement for LLMs. For work, I don't let LLMs write code, and I won't let myself touch an LLM before suffering on a project for an hour at least.
2. I am an experienced meditator with a lot of experience in the Buddhist tradition. I've dusted off my Christian roots, and started exploring these ideas with new eyes, partially from a James Hillman-esq / Rob Burbea Soulmaking Dharma look. I've found a lot of meaning in personal fabrication and myth, and my primary practice now is Centering Prayer.
3. I've been working for a little while on a personal edu-tech idea with the goal of using LLM tech as an auxiliary tech to help people re-develop lost metacognitive skills and not use LLMs as a crutch. I don't know if this will ever see the light of day, it is currently more of a research project than anything, and it has a certain kind of iconoclastic frame like Piotr Wozniak's around what education is and what it should look like.