Is AI taking away our humanness?

There’s no doubt that AI can help us “accomplish” more (accomplish being defined as “getting things done”) it can provide us with more information in less time, the ability to analyze (and over-analyze) anything, and give us a never-ending pursuit of optimization. 

But for what? What are we trading? Authenticity? Exploration? Time? Intuition?

What role does getting “farther faster” play, if it comes at the cost of the human experience? Of course I want to solve big world problems, like curing cancer and disease, and finding solutions to suffering. But are we, somewhat, creating a form suffering in the process? Maybe suffering is a strong word for me to use…But losing oneself in the constant pursuit of more, and never truly being present to experience and be grateful for the more that we attain sounds pretty dystopian to me.

And don’t get me wrong, I’m not one to say that we need to revert. I think that goes against the design of the human experience. We were meant to have challenges (we wouldn’t have purpose without them). And growth, both individual and societal, is also part of the human experience. As much as I’d like to say I have the answer for how we move forward (i.e, the best solution to both advance technology and fully live the human experience), I don’t think that’s possible. The solution can’t be in one individual. It comes from a society, and any cultural change requires a shared responsibility. And when everyone is operating at their own unique and authentic highest version of themselves (aka, fulfilling their part of the shared responsibility), that’s when we thrive as a society and create solutions without losing our humanity.