Monkeying around

I have been reading books on technology these days. One recent reading was particularly interesting. It explored new developments and how they are influencing the world at large. A summary is given here:

“The blind can now see by bionic eyes. The paralyzed can walk by Neuro stimulation. While no one has yet multiplied loaves and fishes to feed the hungry, we can now grow fish from stem cells to accomplish the same miracle of provision. 

Certainly, the terminology has changed. The grandiosity of ‘omnipresence’ and ‘omniscience’ has been replaced by the prosaic ‘Zoom’ and ‘Google’ - but the underlying superpowers are the same.

Technology now performs what once belonged to myth. We summon cars, conjure meals, and speak across continents as casually as across a room. 

Creation, healing, communication, and even nature itself bend to human imagination. If this isn’t magic, what is? (And affirming the theme that humans are as gods). 

And yet, for all this wonder, we don’t feel like beings of power. We feel tired. Overstimulated. Pulled in a thousand directions. Our nervous systems - built for a world of scarcity - now drown in infinite inputs: notifications, feeds, comparisons, news cycles that never sleep. The result is predictable: burnout, anxiety, and an attention span that flickers like a candle in the wind. And lost meaning and purpose! 

Every miracle seems to arrive with a shadow. The internet solved distance but created distraction. Industrial farming solved hunger but birthed new crises. Fossil fuels powered progress but warmed the planet. Social media connected us but left many lonely. AI simplifies complexity even as it accelerates it. We are living inside the side effects of our own brilliance.”

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/241248536-we-are-as-gods 

What the authors are trying to tell us is - that we are as gods, but we have lost meaning to life as we become like gods. So let us create better technology to give meaning to our life! And it is possible today! 

As I read this, one question kept returning to me: Where am I in this journey of technology? I realised I have friends, each responding to technology in different ways:

The Ostriches — totally oblivious to what is happening around them. They are neither pessimists, opportunists, nor optimists. They believe technology does not affect them, and they pay no attention to it. Mostly the baby boomers and elders (our gen and seniors)

The Meerkats — highly alert, constantly scanning for news and evidence, often spiralling down the rabbit hole of “apocalyptic” AI outcomes. They see AI as a looming human-versus-machine battle for dominance. You can find people from all gen in this group. The perpetual pessimists.

The Monkeys  - playful experimenters. They use AI tools and related technologies without fully understanding them. Monkeying around. I think I belong to this group. 

The Fossas — Amazon forest creatures known for being opportunistic, serious, and “cathemeral,” sleeping little so they don’t miss any chance to learn or grow. I know a few such people. Actively learning and engaging with technology. The millineals and Gen Z. Opportunists and guarded optimists.

And then there is a small minority: the optimists. I’m not sure how to describe them. 

They understand the good, the bad, and the ugly, yet they see beyond what I can see. True or false, I do not know. 

They believe the future will not be humans versus machines. Instead, they imagine a wiser path - a centaur future, where humans and AI work together. A partnership where technology handles complexity and humans hold meaning. A tech augmented human being. Writers of the book quoted are such people.

Meanwhile, millions struggle simply to survive each day. The utopias imagined by the tech-savvy and the apocalyptic predictions of the prophets of doom are far removed from their daily concerns. The divide between the haves and the have-nots continues to widen.

I am left with a few questions:

Which group describes me best? - I suppose I am like the Monkey. My daily needs are taken care of, and I do not fully understand all that is happening, but I use AI and tech.

Will we become superhumans, or will technology destroy us? - I am neither an optimist nor a pessimist. I am sure we will not become gods (with a small g). I do not think technology will be the apocalyptic event; we have enough confused leaders whose actions seem more dangerous than technology itself.

Can AI and tech give control of our life and meaning? I do not believe so - I do not find people whose lives are joyful and fully in control any where, in any group because of the technology they use.

How should I live in the midst of all this confusion? - Perhaps it begins with learning to live with what we already have - the AI too, that is silently shaping me through the screen I cling to. But to slow down, integrate, choose wisely, and learn to live as a human, not as a god.

Maybe the invitation of our age is simple: To use tools without becoming tools. To create without being consumed. To stay rooted while the world races ahead. To remember that wisdom is not the same as information, and meaning cannot be downloaded.

In the end, the most human thing we can do may be the oldest thing of all: to walk humbly in a world that is being re-made by our own hands - recognizing that meaning comes from our divine and greater purposes, and not from technology. And reduce complexity by minimising my needs! 

May be I should reduce my monkeying around...