AI Is Here. How Can I Know What’s Real?
The headlines these days are splashed with scary stories of AI and the end of reality. Soon, the experts warn, no one will be able to tell what images or videos are real and what is generated by an all-knowing machine.
The AI threat is merely the latest, most intense form of unreality to wash over us. Technology has been steadily moving us away from real, physical things, and into a world of meta. We’ve tried half-measures, like keeping track of our screen time. But the specter of an AI world seems to push beyond our technology coping systems. This one could thrust us into the world of simulated virtual reality made infamous by “The Matrix.”
Right now we are all thinking, How can I know what’s real? That question is actually very old. It’s the question faith and spirituality has sought to answer for thousands of years. Prophets and sages have always taught that the standard-issue version of life we are given at birth turns out to be unreal. Unless you are born again, as Jesus put it, you’ll live all your days in a shadow sphere. The Bible cautions over and over: “love not the world” (1 John 2:15), meaning, “the world-system”—the invisible familial, social and cultural forces that will automatically create an ersatz life for you, unless you specifically and forcefully opt out.
The wise souls, from Moses to Merton, have shown us how to live an authentic life in a made-up world. They remind us to trust our senses, trust the inner Light within. They assure us: We are already surrounded by—steeped in—the real, beautiful bewildering world. All we have to do is let go of the false version of life and the real will appear.
How do we do that? Every day it’s the same simple task, to pay attention to right here and right now. Get to know your own breath. Take off your shoes and walk in the wet grass. Call that prayer. Face your own shadow with all its fear and angst, and don’t try to change or fix it. Just love it because God loves it. Ask for grace to see the Light in others, especially those you are given to love. Forgive, seventy times seven. Breathe. “Be joyful,” as Wendell Berry wrote, “though you have considered all the facts.” Work hard without needing any reward. Laugh. Make bread. Make love.
If we can do even one of those things today we will know what’s real.
Or pay attention to the cat wanting to cuddle instead of continuing work on the computer…Thanks, David!
Exactly
Perfect meditation for this exciting bewildering frustrating wondrous time! Thank you!!
I have tried to turn my back on AI, pretending it doesn’t exist. I am told by young and old that I need to embrace it, but I’m not buying it! Maybe I’m on to something.
David, you are addressing a topic that I have been pondering (and continue to do so) for quite some time. The topic I refer to is not AI. It is the topic of what is Real and what is not real. For me, pondering this topic has and continues to be most rewarding. Thank you for bringing it up. Now for some questions, thoughts, and speculations.
Could it be that AI is just another manifestation in form that is a fractal of not real? In other words, could it be that AI is just another doll within a Russian Nesting Doll that appears to contain what seems to be an infinity of dolls?
What if at some point what is Real and what is not real inverted and in so doing the not real became recognized as being real and the Real became considered as being the not real?
I suspect that since the beginning of time we have been believing the not real to be real and the Real to be not real thereby making actual Reality an inconceivability from a point of view that is within the inversion.
After much pondering on this subject here is what I have concluded to be the very simple test to establish whether something (whatever the something might be) is Real or not real. If something is eternal then it’s Real. If something comes and goes it is not real.
Now, from my point of view as a person, I can only conceive of the concept of eternity on an intellectual level. The symbol ‘eternity’ cannot inform me what the state of eternity actually is. The best that symbol can do is point to that state which is inconceivable. Why is it inconceivable? It is inconceivable because I have assumed a point of view that is within a reality that is not real.
Is the past Real? Is the future Real? If they are then show them to me. Can I see them? Can I touch them? Can I hear them? Can I smell them? Can I taste them?
In a pseudo reality i.e., what is not real being believed to be Real, there is no such thing as “now.” In an artificial reality there is only ‘after’ and ‘before’ and they are occurring simultaneously.
For fun, here is something to ponder as you drink your morning cup of brew whatever that might be. It you spend some time with it you’ll go deep and broad. If you go really deep you might even blow your mind.
The question is: Is it only the past I perceive?
Of course, I do not know what kind of vessel you drink your morning brew from, but, I, for one, drink my morning coffee from a cup. That noted, I’m going to use my cup to explore this question a bit.
As I look at my cup is it a cup that I am actually perceiving? Or, am I merely reviewing my past experiences of picking up a cup, being thirsty, drinking from a cup, smelling the coffee’s aroma, feeling the hot rim of the cup against my lips, tasting the bitterness of the coffee, and so on? Are my aesthetic and emotional reactions to the cup, too, based on past experiences? How else would I know whether or not this kind of cup will break if I drop it? What do I know about this cup except what I’ve learned in the past? It occurs to me that I would have no idea what this cup is, except for referencing my past learning, which I am not conscious of doing. So, when I look at this cup am I really seeing this cup or am I seeing the past? If everything I am perceiving is based upon my past learning, is there such a thing as new future or is what I consider to be the future just me unconsciously projecting the past? In other words, is what I think of as “living life” nothing more than a repetition of scenarios running on a closed loop; i.e., a condition of history continually repeating itself?
I believe that what is Real is an eternal, changeless, ever extending state of Mind. In other words, I believe that only God is Real. This, of course, would include God’s Creations, which I believe to be one and the same. Meaning, there is no place where God ends and God’s Creations begin. I believe that God’s Creations are the Extension of God. So, if this is indeed the case, how is it possible that there can be a state of not real? There can’t be. The state of not real can only seem to exist as an idea that manifests as a dream that never was.
I watched the Tim Pool/Timcast RL (In Real LIfe) on Friday night. I ended up watching pretty much the whole 2hrs, which is a rarity for me but I found what was being discussed to be more than a little interesting. One subject in particular that was very interesting covered the topics of Neuro Link, A.I., AGI, VR, etc. and how these will be changing society. Figuring out what is real and not real is going to be getting a lot more challenging. This is a conversation that I think is worth sharing because I believe that the hypothetical scenarios discussed should be in our conscious awareness as this sure seems to be the reality that’s coming. IYI, start listening at 38:50.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-cbu5n15ppA&t=6779s
Also, It’s not the best sci-fi movie (far from it) but the story line is more than a little appropriate to go along with the conversation cited above. The name of the movie is 2047 Virtual Revolution. Amazon prime has it.
https://www.amazon.com/gp/video/detail/B0817BXZVK/ref=atv_hm_wat_c_7de9kC_1_143