And God said: let there be light, and there was light. (Gen 1)
Language, art, creativity, connection. These words sum up for me the essence of what makes life beautiful and I’m inclined to think it would be very hard to live without them. Language is the means with which we express what lives inside us. Where language fails, we use art or other forms of creativity. We share what we see and feel, and if others receive it, a mutual consciousness is born.
Words or other forms of creativity always came from a deeper source, were traditionally seen as inspired by God or muses or springing from our unconsciousness, in short: mysterious but meaningful, and personal. Now that AI can write poetry, paint images and compose music, I feel a change in the world that moves me deeply.
In my work as a software developer I use a lot of AI. I enjoy it, I always like new tools and this feels like the greatest tool I’ve ever seen. In essence, my job means translating what humans need in language that a computer can understand. That is now much easier, I can use human language myself now. Actually, programming as it was, is almost entirely replaced by telling the agent what to program. It’s hard to keep up, everything changes fast, the AI produces much more than I ever could, thinks of details I would forget, suggests solutions I could never do on my own and I need to find new ways to make sure that it does what is necessary and useful. First of all that means building in rest, taking time to know what I really want to create. But today I want to reflect on what this does to my soul: talking in human language to a computer is a bit uncanny, it shifts something inside.
Years ago we saw this effect of AI on the human soul prefigured when the first matches in the game of Go were won by a computer. The game of Go is a very complex game, it is very important in Chinese culture, where it is seen as a mirror of life itself. Go players each have their own style and use their intuition to find the best moves. In 2015, the professional player Fan Hui lost to AlphaGo with 0-5. Fan Hui’s first reaction after a game was saying: “I don’t understand myself anymore“. I heartily recommend viewing the documentary about it, it is very beautiful1. Most of us do not play Go, but we may feel the same self-doubts as Fan Hui, now that AI not only plays Go, but speaks with us.
AI being able to speak creates confusion, because language is special. Many religions see language as holy. The Bible starts with God creating everything by speaking it into existence. Other religions also have sacred languages, or words, or the concept of the “true name” for things and beings. In our society speeches, letters, poems, all are meant to convey real meaning. We see the other person behind the words, or between the lines. I think it is this that still makes me hesitate to use words to communicate with something that is not alive. It feels like I’m fooling myself all the time. Using language invites me to believe that the answering party has an inner depth, and during the whole conversation I detect myself wondering what type of presence talks with me. Conversely, reading an AI generated text makes me wonder if the author, the person who used the AI to give me the text, actually knows what he wanted to say.
I would not go as far as advising against the use of AI, as some people do very eloquently2. But I do need to find a way to navigate these changed circumstances, and I think I found such a way with a renewed appreciation of taking time to rest and reflect. I found that what is most valuable to me is meaningful connections with other people and with God and the mystery of my own soul. The use of language is important for, but not equal to, these depths, in fact it is quite possible to talk with God or my loved ones in silence. As always: we need to rest and dedicate time to true connection. This has not changed.
