Is AI for or against life?

Had a debate with my brother last night about the use-cases of AI.

I was really hyped-up about the possibility of using things like Claude to code entire websites and applications within minutes (that would normally take an entire team days or weeks).

It’s really powerful stuff!

But he pushed back.

He said: “But Adam, some people actually enjoy the process of coding. There’s a certain human touch that goes into writing the code that adds value to the overall project.”

I argued back.

But over time…

It became more and more clear to me that maybe he was right.

My brother has a very strong intuition and sense of what is moral, ethical, and good for the overall well-being of humanity.

He doesn’t think AI is useless, but he does call into question the overall “progress” narrative.

How is “progress” really measured?

Is it measured in quicker results? Or faster outputs?

Or is it measured in the well-being of the individuals that make up the populace?

Instead of GDP, why don’t we also use GHP (gross-domestic happiness) to measure our overall “progress” as a species?

Although it may be the case that certain tasks can be finished more quickly and with more efficiency.

(I think that’s good, to some extent)

We also have to ask ourselves the question of what’s really important at the end of the day?

What do we really want?

A computing-power arms race? Where each company attempts to monopolize all of the RAM and GPU power that they possibly can, to make more and more capable AI models?

Or happiness and enjoyment of the present moment?

They don’t have to be mutually exclusive, but it really depends.

Overall, I urge you to question the “progress” narrative.

If you are against AI, try learning more and more about its powerful and remarkable potential use-cases in the realms of coding, administrative work, data analysis, and technology creation.

If you are for AI, try asking yourself whether or not the increased speed and efficiency of work really is contributing to overall human happiness?

Like the Zen monks, we don’t need to “skip over” our work.

Sometimes sweeping the floor is extremely fulfilling, when done with mindfulness, gratitude, and a deep appreciation for the organic intelligence that flows through all-things.

Thank you soul much for reading, my friend.

What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear them 😁👂🏻❤️

Sincerely,

Adam 💕👁️