Digital Optimist Scott Klososky

Scott starts a new series that is all about finding better definitions for important words we use in the technology field. Too many times words are used that many people really do not understand. In other cases, the words we use are not good at really describing the concepts behind the words. In this first podcast of the series, Scott takes on artificial Intelligence and dramatically expands the words and meanings for different forms of intelligence. By the end, the listener will have a whole new palette of words to choose from when talking about human and synthetic intelligence.

This is an interstitial podcast between two series. There is so much talk about whether AI is good or bad and those words do not do justice to the complexity of that debate. Scott looks at one important aspect by thinking through whether we might become negatively addicted to the use of AI or will AI free us from mundane tasks and free our creative capabilities – or both! The more accurately we can predict the impacts of AI, the better we can adjust how we use it for good. This is the first podcasts that ends in a warning!

Like the story of the fish that do not have a sense that they live in the water because it always all around them, humanity is being impacted by the amplification of technology. For those of us living right in the middle of it, we have a sense that our lives are changing, but we don’t really have the comparative scale to understand how much or how fast. People who have lived for many decades can remember the way it was and compare to the way it is – for better or for worse. Younger people have less perspective to work with. This podcast talks about the dark and the light of digital amplification when looked at through a larger lens. The more precise perspective we can create on what technology can and will do to humanity, the more we can make good decisions on finding the needed balance between humans and machines.

Like the story of the fish that do not have a sense that they live in the water because it always all around them, humanity is being impacted by the amplification of technology. For those of us living right in the middle of it, we have a sense that our lives are changing, but we don’t really have the comparative scale to understand how much or how fast. People who have lived for many decades can remember the way it was and compare to the way it is – for better or for worse. Younger people have less perspective to work with. This podcast talks about the dark and the light of digital amplification when looked at through a larger lens. The more precise perspective we can create on what technology can and will do to humanity, the more we can make good decisions on finding the needed balance between humans and machines.

There are two central ways humans will amplify themselves. This podcast deals with the first which is physically improving our capabilities. We were all born with natural bodies. Some of these bodies had weaknesses from birth. Some of our bodies get damaged along the way. What happens when we can repair either of these states and create physical parity in the world? What happens when we can extend lifespan through the use of biotech, nanotech, and digital tech? We stand at the precipice of amazing improvements through the integration of AI, biotech, and nanotech. What kind of world will that lead us into? How much of what science fiction writers has shared for years will come true? Now is the time to get a clear picture in our minds and wrestle with what we will tell our kids and grandkids when they have the chance to enhance.

Human beings are always looking for an edge or improvement. In a lot of ways, we are achievement junkies who never stop figuring out how to amplify our capabilities. A competitive world drives us from childhood to find ways to be better than those around us. It is no surprise that technologies are becoming a more powerful influence in getting us the advantages we seek. In this opening podcast of the series, Scott looks into what has driven us in the past and how those same catalysts will cause a very Humalogy future – at the individual level. Will we all become cyborgs? No. Will we slowly be drawn more towards technology amplifications? Very likely. The more we wrestle with the direction of amplification now, the more likely we are to avoid some of the blind alleys that have hurt us in the past.