The Taxonomic Rank of Artificial Intelligence

Resources for understanding all that is happening in the world of AI

“The difference between intelligence and wisdom is restraint.” – Daniel Schmachtenberger

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Hi friends, a few things happened this past week.

1. I recalled a conversation I had this summer with my buddy David in which he eloquently articulated how the technological realization of AI this decade is actually the birth of an entirely new domain of species – the first virtual being (that we know of). With artificial general intelligence, an entirely new taxonomic domain will be added to the tree of life. The ramifications of this provocation are immense, scientifically, existentially, ontologically, and technologically.

2. The CEO of OpenAi, Sam Altman, was fired by his board. In short, there’s some shady stuff regarding how the organization of OpenAi was setup, part non profit, part for profit. This whole drama has highlighted the core tension between the power of AI and capitalistic tendencies towards profit, monopoly, and exploitation at the expense of social and democratic health. How this plays out will essentially set the precedent for how AI is regulated and monetized for the foreseeable future.

3. I had conversations with two friends about the state of AI and was struck at how quickly the landscape is evolving, and how momentous AI will become for the future of human civilization. I believe AI is to society today what the introduction of electricity generation was in the 1820s and 1830s, which ultimately led to the intense competition in the electric light market in the 1870s and 1880s. The innovation of those fifty years will be radically eclipsed by the innovation we will witness in the next five years. It’s going to be a wild ride.

It’s a lot to take in and make sense of. The good news is there a few folks who I think do a great job of sensemaking and communicating all that is happening in AI. And that’s really the point of this post – given the immensity if the subject I’d like point you to some resources that I’ve found to be helpful.

AI is important. It is important to be informed and understand how this technology will change the way we live, work, and sustain this thing we call democracy. The disruption will be like nothing we’ve ever experienced. It is also not too late to shape the trajectory of AI to ensure it is developed and applied in healthy pro-social ways.

Toward that end, here are some resources to help you participate in the ongoing dialogue as an informed and engaged citizen.

Start Here

• Start by listening to this conversation between Nate Hagens and Daniel Schmachtenberger – "Artificial Intelligence and The Superorganism. It is long, but is the most comprehensive and thoughtful ‘map of the territory,’ if you will. You won’t regret it spending time with this.

AI Specific Newsletters

• The Sequence

• Artificiality

• The Neuron Daily

• chinAI (understanding how AI is being used by governments like China and Russia is acutely important.)

• Great list of other newsletters to discover here.

Foresight Newsletters & Resources

• Sentiers

• Exponential View

• Alice in Futureland

• Fluxus

• The Near Future Laboratory Podcast

Contextualizing AI

AI must be contextualized by other technologies as its impact is compounded by the internet of everything, quantum computing, Web3 (specifically blockchain and self sovereign identity), and camera technology. AI must also be contextualized by our beliefs about what it means to be human at this moment in history. So I’ll leave you with a few other nuggets to add some nuance to the AI conversation.

• Everything by The House of Beautiful Business in general is awesome, but definitely give this recent essay a read – There is no cure for your cognitive dissonance.

• While there haven’t been any recent posts, the archive of writing from Euvie Ivanova that is Earth Mother weaves heart and intellect beautifully to explore “being human together, as we stand at the precipice of civilization collapse and mass extinction.”

• Read, listen, and watch to everything Daniel Schmachtenberger. Search his name on YouTube or your podcast platform of choice and plenty of stuff will come up, find something that grabs your attention.

• Who Owns The Future by Jaron Lanier. I have found a lot of Lanier’s work in recent years to be more on the cynical side, but this book is massively underrated and critical reading.

• The Exponential Age by Azeem Azhar. The best overview of what’s happening in tech, contextualized by a bit of history and great commentary on why we’re living in crazy times.

• What’s our Problem? by Tim Urban. When people rave about Harari’s Sapiens, I always ask if they have read this book. Read this first.

• My full reading list is here.

What would you add to this list?! I’d love to know. Share the signals you’ve been paying attention to in the comments.

–Joel