Hey everyone!
If you’re getting this Substack in your inbox, it’s because you’re subbed to one of my other publications (Remnant Chronicles or Bitcoin Times). If after you’ve read this quick intro, you’re not interested, please feel free to unsubscribe.
I’ve not been publishing much recently because I’m working on Bitcoin Project with team at Lucent Labs, along with an Ai side project. But…this Ai project will see me writing some more again, and in particular on the topic of Intelligence. And who knows - I may even start recording the odd podcast along the way. We shall see.
You’ll notice I said Intelligence, not Ai. That’s because I want to examine more than just “artificial” intelligence. Sure, Ai is all the rage now, but I want to also think more broadly and holistically. I want to think about anthropic, authentic and ancestral intelligence and what that has to do with the new world we’re living in.
The past 6 months has seen a significant shift in the way Ai is being used. LLMs in particular are of interest to me, NOT because they are truly “Intelligent” or in any way represent a mind or agency (I’ll dig into this in our next newsletter), but because they are a powerful tool that I believe if wielded right, can transform how we interact with the world around us.
I believe we’re moving into a new technological paradigm. Away from pure graphical user interfaces (GUIs), and toward language-user-interfaces (LUIs). We’re moving away from Apps that “use” Ai in the background, and toward “Intelligent Apps” that make Ai a central part to the user experience.
With this will come incredible opportunities to build new products, deliver new services, work more intelligently, efficiently and effectively and create entirely new ways of doing things. These are all great economic outcomes because if we can do more with less the prices of goods and services should come down, (yes, deflation is a great thing). If we can get out of our own way, we can use these tools to create higher degrees of abundance.
And while it will change or even obsolete some jobs, that’s not a bad thing. Tools and technology create opportunities for new kinds of pursuits, and ideally, more free time, which in the context of falling prices for goods and services is great (sans-inflation of course - bigger issue). Also in the case of Ai, we may even have a renaissance of real world skills because mundane mid-wit roles get automated away.
Side note - Yes I know some people become slaves to their tools (eg: social media), but that’s another discussion and one I’ll explore in a future essay.
There will of course also be significant political consequences. The more these technologies grow, the more anachronistic become the legacy politics of “The State.” I fear this is where the greatest risks lie because while technology can enable greater individual sovereignty, there are idiots out there that believe each technological breakthrough is an opportunity for more government control, regulation and tooling.
WEF types are wet-dreaming themselves each night about a Modern Ai singleton that can run everything perfectly. While I don’t believe in such an AGI Singleton (topic for another future essay), the very real risk is the deployment of advanced enough narrow Ai across key structures in a society with some form of Overton-window fine-tuned LLM interface that gets to decide your fate in matters of transport / travel, health, food, family and economics in general.
If you thought dealing with humanoid NPCs was bad, just wait until you’re dealing with an artificial NPC that’s plugged into the system and can limit your CBDC wallet or restrict your visa because you liked the wrong tweet to ate too much meat and butter on your last trip to France.
That’s almost already a reality and people are marching right into it, either oblivious, or distracted by red-herrings like AGI sentient computers taking over the world.
Anyway. This is not supposed to be that kind of essay.
So let’s finish up here with two things.
One: The goal of this Substack is two fold.
To explore what we’re building at Laier Two Labs. I think specialised Ai tools are going to be of extreme importance in the decade(s) to come, and Language models will play a central role. It’s my hope that the product(s) we’re building are a first step to using these technologies more consciously and in a more humanity-centric and human-enabling way.
To cut through the noise around Ai, and infuse your mind with something more intelligent than the midwit-level “Ai is going to kill us all” or “AGI is around the corner” kind of hysteria. If there is one thing about Ai that’s interesting, it’s that it makes you examine the bigger questions, such as “what is Intelligence”, “What is Consciousness”, “What makes humans unique”, etc.
With that in mind, some of the up-coming essays I’m working on include:
The Ai Enabled Team
Why AI doesn’t change anything about Capitalism
Midwit Obsolescence Technology
Genius and Ai
Ai should not be Democratic
Energy & General Intelligence
Why AGI is not happening anytime soon (if ever)
Bitcoin and Ai. Friend or Foe?
So I promise you’re going to get a good dose of things to look forward to, and things to think about - both which I hope you find useful.
Two: Naming
I’m unsure of what to call this Substack. I started with Paradaigm Shifts, but then decided Authentic Intelligence. Both are a play on “Ai” but dammit I don’t know. So I have a small ask from you, if you’ve read this far.
Please let me know what you think I should call this, from the following list.
(If you do have another suggestion, I’m open to it - but only if it’s really good. In which case select “other” and place it in the comments section).
That’s all for now. Thankyou to everyone that remains subbed.
It’s good to be writing again.
Stay tuned for more
PS - Bitcoin remains in my mind, the most important thing that’s happened for humanity (orders of magnitude more-so than Ai), but I’ve written a lot on it already. I want to sink my intellectual teeth into something else because there is clearly a gap here. I’ll also keep writing on Bitcoin too, so don’t worry. That will happen on Remnant Chronicles, Bitcoin Times and Bitcoin Magazine when I get time.
Not your usual AI Newsletter
I'm looking forward to seeing what you have to say on this topic. I've been a bit skeptical of the utility of the applications I've seen so far, but at the same time I sense that there is the promise in these technologies - if properly and creatively applied - to enhance rather than annihilate our humanity. I've also had the intuition that one unexpected consequence may end up being a reengagement of humanity with the embodied world - not something I've written about yet, but it's been percolating at the back of my mind.
Oh and, your instinct for the blog's name is a good one, 'Authentic Intelligence' seems to relate to the nature of the project more directly, and is also a clever play on the acronym.