Monologue on Nature and Humans, Generative AI and Human Brain

Happy New Year!

Even though New Year is an artificial division of time, we feel no discomfort saying "Happy New Year," as if you were to say "you're a congratulatory person," you'd be scolded as someone lacking common sense.   Excuse me. Perhaps, humans seek comfort in shared empathy through such greetings. It's a New Year that makes me think about how humans want to divide and compartmentalize the naturally continuous flow of time for their convenience.

Indeed, long before artificial intelligence was born, humans have been understanding, recognizing, and normalizing everything artificially from a human-centric perspective. No matter how natural or obvious we claim things to be, the universe itself wasn't created for human convenience.  Rather, humans, who are part of nature, which is another way of mentioning the universe, arbitrarily create artificial concepts, frameworks, constitutions, laws, ancient religions, customs, and various other things.  Is this artificial or natural? If humans are part of nature, then artificial intelligence, science, knowledge, religion, constitutions, laws - everything humans have modified - could be considered both "artificial" and part of the "natural" universe.  Yet somehow, when we speak of artificial intelligence, constitutions, or religion, they sound sophisticated. The knowledge and groups of people hanging onto these concepts seem to manipulate them conveniently.

In every field, humans are natural beings who, when sensing limitations, create and utilize artificial things to achieve breakthroughs and overcome these limitations.  I think humans have created computers and what we call artificial intelligence because they felt the biological limitations of intelligence and intellect.  In the past, computers were called "electronic calculators" and could only process numbers.  Considering how computers and software (applications) have progressed to process not just numbers but texts, images, and sounds, and how even smartphones are 100% computers inside, the term "electronic calculator" almost seems like a joke now.

As AI increasingly evolves to autonomously process text, images, sound, and even robot movements, the word computer (compute = to calculate) meaning "something that calculates" seems like an engineering expression. One might say, "I'm not using my computer or smartphone for calculations in daily life" or "I'm not having it calculate words, voice, or images in everyday life."

Moreover, as AI becomes so widespread it's almost overused, Artificial Intelligence substitutes human sensory inputs and actions through eyes, ears, mouth, and hands, and its ultimate evolution might lead to the birth of artificial entities that substitute human intelligence and centers. This makes us wonder whether this will lead to the evolution or devolution of human limbs, mouth, ears, eyes, and brain.

Nevertheless, since humans are part of nature, what humans call artificial - including AI - could be considered one of nature's forms of intelligence generated from the silicon entity, an Electronic Intelligence (EI) indirectly connecting humanity's brains through sharing.  AI is a knowledge accelerator that shares intelligence, with the internet serving as a synapse-like interface.

Right now, we're being questioned about how to use and interact with AI as an extension of our own brains.

Thinking negatively, even if someone claims "I can write a book in 10 minutes" as a typist, is that really an extension of your brain, or is it just AI-generated content that you're claiming as your own thoughts, ideas, and writing simply because you typed in the prompt? Some might think this way. All we can say is, think what you want.

Somehow, it feels different from using a 10,000 yen bill received as a New Year's gift versus one earned through work.

In other words, it might be like how speechwriters create speeches for politicians worldwide, which the politicians then deliver either as-is or with modifications. Of course, some might write their own speeches, but here the speechwriter truly serves as a generative AI. However, this speechwriter thoroughly understands that politician's thoughts, values, and personality.

Considering this, today's generative AI is an artificial electronic text processing machine that creates text from vast knowledge data, writing excellent content without knowing anything about you. Generative AI is an expert that writes magnificently while ignoring your knowledge, values, and personality. Well... well... can we call this knowledge theft... or should we think of generative AI as showing us information and knowledge we should have learned?

That's enough rambling for today about the contradictions between nature and humans, and the subtle relationship between brain and AI usage.

For further reading, please click the English versions of my writing.