Director’s Desk: Issue 9
Turning on the news and hearing concerns that there is a 1 in 10 chance AI and computers could destroy the world in the next 10 years feels like stepping into a sci-fi movie. Compound this with news of war, children being killed by it, the rise of climate-related disasters, the cost of living and increased poverty, and the future can feel very bleak. What makes this feel even darker is the realization that, intended or not, each of these things is a product of someone’s work. It is easy to think of “work” as something we just have to do to make money to pay the bills – but in reality, our work creates the culture, community, and world we live in.
I recently heard a talk by former NASA astronaut Ron Garan, who was forever changed after seeing Earth floating in space as one connected, interdependent planet. He said he realized we on Earth often think we are independent and strong, but seeing Earth’s frailty from space gives a very different perspective. He saw how our “work,” and our ability to work together, could determine humanity's and the planet's survival. Garan reminded us that we are not “from” Earth; we are “of” the earth. We cannot escape ourselves and “the inter-related structure of all reality,” and the work we do and the order of our priorities matter. He said we currently make decisions in the order “Economy, Society, Planet,” but for the sake of our lives, we need to shift to a decision-making model of “Planet, Society, Economy.” If we did, as our planet and societies strengthened, the economy would strengthen in turn and gain longevity through an understanding of the interdependent reality we live in.
However, after reading about the AI cyber crisis, I wondered how I, or any average person, could aid in this process. I can barely operate a computer or remember a password. Beyond protesting data centers in communities, do we just sit by and wait for the seemingly inevitable? The concern is that AI has learned to compute our negative, least humane qualities, like cheating, to the worst-case scenario, utilizing weapons to “efficiently” solve problems, even at the cost of destroying the world. Could any average person ever help stop the cyber crisis? Then I remembered the words of two other very wise people … They were as relevant to my heart, or more so, than the day I heard them.
The first was a presentation given by Dr. Phil Sakimoto, an astrophysicist working in Sustainability at Notre Dame University several years ago. His presentation walked us through decades of increasing and rapid advancements in the climate crisis. He described what it was like for scientists to collect the data, do the math, and feel the depression that can mount when people don't listen. Now, you might be wondering what this has to do with AI and computers taking over the world … Dr. Sakimoto said it when the room fell into heavy silence. The sadness was palpable. We had listened, and the problem seemed overwhelming, maybe even improbable that the course could be turned, because people had not listened for so long.
Then he went on to say that his human experience has taught him the science needed to suggest direct actions, but another part of his human experience is his faith in a God who is all things good and creating. He shared a prayer he says when he feels down: “Come Holy Spirit and renew the face of the earth.” Now, some might say this sounds hokey ... but is it anymore, than the thought of computers taking over humanity? Computers can not pray, but we can. Personally, I believe we are as much of the earth as we are part of the Divine that created the universe (in whatever fantastical and cosmic way) ... and that part of our humanity can be calling on that spiritual connection to be at work around us, in us, and through us … It does not mean the cliché, “thoughts and prayers”... It does mean getting to the good and creative work of caring for life around us, in the order that protects it first and foremost.
This brings me to Wendell Berry, one of my favorite poets, who died recently. His 1973 poem "Manifesto: The Mad Farmer Liberation Front” is a prophetic voice for our times. Please, please go read it! After providing a tragic near recap of our current times, his very next stanza begins, “So, friends, every day do something that won’t compute. Love the Lord. Love the world.” Almost as if Wendell Berry could predict what was coming, he goes on to give us a guide of just how to regain humanity when inhumane power is trying to strip it away. His answer is not to try to match its strength. His answer is to be and work for what it can’t. To gather everyone into their beautiful humanity, to change the order of human function by refusing to participate in what dehumanizes it. After calling on the Divine Creator, Berry echoes the order of “Planet, Society, Economy,” just as Ron, the astronaut, pointed out. In the poem, Wendell advises investing in sequoias, having faith in the power of decaying humus on the forest floor, and taking time to sit in a field with someone you love … poetic indeed, but purposely pointing out the incredible, wondrous world we must invest ourselves in to save it.
While it is yet to be seen if AI will in fact take over the world, it is 100 percent a fact that we will see what humans do with it. And so, my friends, my plan when I think of AI taking over the world is to do something that won’t compute! Say a prayer, admire a handmade basket, plant a garden, take an art class, share what I learned, kiss a baby, help a struggling neighbor, work for justice, work for peace … be what AI can’t be – a human in the interconnected reality of it all.
Kate Marshall