In 2022, I left my job to learn more about climate change and find the most effective way I could contribute to solving it using my skills. I read several books, took the amazing 12-week "Learning For Action" (I loved the name) course by Terra.do, joined climate communities, and met several inspiring people working in this space. After many months into their journey, I realised we already had most of the solutions we needed. The problem was almost entirely human: a mix of greed and insecurity, that underlies most pursuits for power, including my own.
Those same factors underpin everything that is wrong with the AI race today. By relentlessly prioritising growth in one dimension, we have lost track of everything else that gives us joy and makes a full life: fulfilling relationships, meaningful conversations, being thoughtful in our daily actions, mentoring our young, standing up for what is right, nurturing curiosity, helping our loved ones and our community at large, spending time with nature, appreciating the mortality of life, acknowledging our luck and more.
Working at the frontier in AI is almost like being part of a cult. If you ask the hard questions, "what about the environmental impact of training these models?", "what will happen when it takes away real jobs?", you are either met with a shrug or "that's not my problem to figure out" or cast out from the cult altogether. Maybe these questions were not relevant 5 years back but how can anyone in their right mind avoid asking and answering these questions today?
My conclusion on how to solve the root cause of climate change back then is the same for AI today: we need a spiritual revolution. I set out on my own spiritual journey through Vipassana 3 years back and have stumbled along the way, giving into the same base emotions of insecurity and greed. This path is challenging and there are so many distractions pulling us away from it every minute. The only way one of us can succeed is when everyone else does too. As much as the current narrative of hyper-independence wants us to believe, we really do need others. I know my need for independence stems from my aversion to the pain that would come from being hurt. We need to stop avoiding confronting ourselves and we need all the help we can get along the way.