The Emergence Book Prologue
*The Following 16 posts are also chapters of The Emergence book also found in its entirety to read for free found here: The Emergence Book Page
The Emergence
We Have a Communication Problem
A collection of essays and podcast episodes elevating, rather than inhibiting, human potential and agency.
This Book, the following essays and episodes, and resources around this subject can be found at TheEmergence.io
“As iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another.” ~~ Proverbs 27:17i
Prologue
I believe in a higher power, the details of which are my own personal beliefs. I don’t believe we’re here through some cosmic accident but here to exercise our will through a combination of faith and exploring our own potential for the benefit of ourselves and others.
“Even the most lost soul on the street knows more than you on some things.” I told this to a colleague once and I think his brain melted. But I believe this to be true. Tapping into the potential of all, from those suffering the most to the most affluent, is the foundation for a healthier society.
But with all of the increasingly advanced communication technology available at our disposal, the sharing of knowledge and resources, which one can argue is the foundation to unlock this available human potential, remains hidden behind paid and ad based silos that are funded by only the wealthiest of individuals, where access is optimized for these providers of information over the users.
The following collection of essays and podcast episodes weave a tapestry of ideas centered on reshaping communication technology to prioritize user interests and capabilities over provider-driven agendas. These reflections, spanning from the early 1960’s to the inception of The Emergence.IO in October 2020, represent a journey through an evolving digital landscape. Recognizing a synergistic alignment with these ideals, I transitioned this collection to Substack, culminating in the book you are about to delve into.
My observations over the years have charted the internet's transformation from a beacon of openness and collaboration to a realm of opaqueness and control, increasingly monetized and manipulated by a few dominant forces. This shift, which I've chronicled with a growing sense of frustration, culminates in my latest essay as of the writing of this book, “We Have a Communication Problem." This piece, marking a moment of near surrender, now finds its place as a historical marker in this book – an archive for myself and, perhaps, for others who resonate with these thoughts.
As I grappled with completing this book's introduction, a pivotal announcement from Sam Altman on November 6th, 2023, regarding the OpenAI GPT store, rekindled my curiosity.
Side note: Certainly there are many very interesting Generative AI and AI companies I could call out in this intro but Open AI was the first to introduce the notion of user creators at this scale so they will be the focus of this prologue for the essays and podcast episodes that follow.
My prior engagement with ChatGPT, albeit as a casual user, hadn't fully revealed the potential of Generative AI in relation to The Emergence's core principles. However, diving deeper into Chat GPT4 and creating GPTs for the upcoming GPT store, I began to perceive a paradigm shift in communication technology – one where tools that were not reliant on deep pockets could empower user agency to create experiences for the users to explore their own interests and capabilities to ultimately harness their own potential.
This isn't to suggest that ChatGPT or similar platforms should monopolize user experiences either; such a scenario would be perilously unbalanced. Instead, it's the concept of utilizing AI to enable people to construct their queries, without the need of programming skills, that intrigues me. This process of creating, discovering, and sharing outside the confines of silos ran by shareholders resonates with the very principles that inspired The Emergence – akin to what is found in following chapters such as the pheromone trails in ant colonies or Douglas Engelbart's concept of Bootstrapping where those developing new tools for boosting Collective IQ can use what they build to enhance their own effectiveness.
Could Altman's notion of AI as a "thought partner" suggest a collaborative relationship with AI, one where our human potential is leveraged, not overshadowed. Even though Chat GPT resides inside a silo, the expression of tools created would not, which could lead to a partnership serving as a key piece in the puzzle of empowering users to tap into their potential both individually and collectively.
Then in the blink of an eye Sam Altman is fired from OpenAI who is replaced with a CEO from the media live-streaming platform Twitch, then Altman is said to move internally to Microsoft, who then moves back to Open AI as CEO, which to me lifted the veil of naivety that was beginning to settle in with a bit of blind optimism over AI.
But maybe not all is lost due to a couple of boardroom shuffles. Time will tell. But if tools are to be built to truly serve the interests of users, they need to be driven by the users and not by shareholders, and to me the only way forward is to cautiously leverage the power of AI to give people a leg up. I emphasize the word cautiously because the downside to AI controlling our perceptions is significant but should this fear keep us within the gates of the status quo? I don’t believe so.
In an interview on Hard Fork two days before being removed from the Open AI board, Altman talked about his interest in keeping a version of Chat GPT available for free to the users without a reliance on ads. As you will see in Chapter 4 below, Emerging Consumer Interests Through Tunable Ads, I have a disdain for the infectious onslaught of ads in the knowledge graph. And as you will see in Chapter 7, Declaration Of Digital Independence, I believe Ben Goertzel’s theory on Offer Networks through his AI company SingularityNet is an interesting alternative solution without the intermediary of money.
I ask myself frequently what would be possible if the decentralization of Blockchain could be combined with Generative AI to help create a voucher system to allow users to complete tasks to gain access to the knowledge graph for sweat equity where a working mother completes a task for someone else to receive a credit to access an AI application to better herself or to make money.
In the lens of The Emergence, the solution is to provide users with tools that are not reliant on deep pockets to empower user agency and to create experiences for the users to explore their own interests and capabilities to ultimately harness their own potential. The web and web search is not built for this. Generative AI could be a solution as long as monied interests don’t swallow it whole like they did with the web.
I remain cautiously optimistic because despite these concerns, the nature of Generative AI feels fundamentally different, relying on collective learning, not popularity metrics, to potentially offer a more authentic and decentralized experience. As a self-professed curious individual, albeit not a tech expert, I see an opportunity with Generative AI helping people like myself actively participate in this new age of collective learning from the bottom up.
As I publish this book, I ponder the future direction of TheEmergence.io. Perhaps, the real purpose of this book is to inspire solutions through the lens of Generative AI, highlighting its role as a potential remedy for the communication challenges outlined throughout this book.
The question that now arises is how we, the average curious individuals, leverage these tools to solve problems – be they personal, communal, or institutional. This exploration is not about replacing programmers but leveraging their work, particularly in areas like backend development and enterprise API applications, where the potential to connect with these resources outside corporate influence seems limitless.
More specifically, what can we, the curious individuals, build with these tools to resolve problems and find solutions for ourselves and others? To leverage Generative AI to build applications from the street level rather than the boardroom level. To bring millions of creatives who would normally be shut out of building applications into the fold to solve problems and provide solutions more representative of the communities they work within.
Who will build a better tool to help identify cancer cells? A group of doctors or a medical committee tied to the bottom line of the success of an application. Who will create a better way to discover movies speaking to the interests of movie goers? A filmmaker or a movie studio tied to the bottom line selling their catalog of movies. Who will build a better way to help find resources for those suffering from mental health issues, homelessness, or substance abuse? A community activist who had suffered and overcame afflictions or an institution funded by big pharma?
Maybe an element of The Emergence will be to build potential solutions using generative AI to be a part of this new era of bottom up development unfolding before us. In service of this, I was inspired by a comment made to an X/Twitter post from Robert Scoble where he called out the ChatGPT AI hype during the GPT store announcement.
“GPTs are bait for normies - will help them realize all they can do with the bot - its just like giving ppl a coloring book vs a blank slate is all”
I replied with “get ready for the normie invasion!
According to Dictionary.com “Normie is slang for a “normal person,” especially someone seen to have conventional, mainstream tastes, interests, viewpoints, etc. It is intended as an insult but often used ironically.”
To sum it up, a Normie is an average person, which I believe is an unfortunate generalization and characterization, even when delivered with irony, because it is impossible to sum up the potential of a person with a generalization. We are all complex in our genetic and behavioral makeup. Whether we express this potential or not, it is a complicated matter in of itself due to the environments we live within.
But my point is, if the vast majority of the world’s population are normies, then why are we not tapping into this reservoir of possibilities now that we have the ability to leverage the gears of knowledge never available to humans before? The delta of this potential is where the power lies.
This was always the idea behind The Emergence. To surface the talents of people to build better communication tech outside the influence of large corporations. But the technology wasn’t available until now. ChatGPT and similar platforms, while not a panacea, act as conversation starters and roadmaps for individuals to emerge from the confines imposed by dominant corporations. If there were a path forward for The Emergence, it would be to actively participate in this conversation and to contribute, even if modestly, to this evolving solution.
And it is important to note that what follows is not an attack on big business or big government. It is an attack on the misalignment of intent with stated purpose which preys on institutions and communities both big and small. Are we here to lift people up through opportunities or hold them back through controls? When it comes to any form of communication technology, controls cloaked in opportunity do not scale well for societal progress.
I believe putting opportunity in the hands of the people; with AI, technologists, and funding sources in the background as an assist will scale better. Yes, controls over the user could still be cloaked in opportunity but when shareholders, who have no sweat equity in the game, are removed from the promise of progress, then what communication tools could be built for opportunities to reach deeper into our collective potential? Without a doubt this all goes out the window if Generative AI removes agency from the user in creating the tools and defaults back to the algorithmic monolith we see in all of our communication tools today.
AI involves significant costs due to immense requirements for computing resources, which makes it clear why substantial funding is necessary for its ongoing development. However, the central question raised is who should lead the development of the final applications. Should it be directed by the shareholders or the users?
The problem is that shareholders are going to demand a high rate of return and infinite growth which has been proven time and time again to sacrifice quality of the end solution for the user. Do we really want quantity over quality to drive Generative AI and AI in general? This is where things become concerning with this shiny new technology that even the creators struggle to comprehend.
However, when millions, if not hundreds of millions, of people begin creating solutions while sharing revenue with developers and hosting AI companies, wouldn’t revenue follow? And as jobs are being displaced by automation, could AI, combined with the untapped potential of people create other sources of income while building solutions for others to benefit from? A scenario where backend developers and host AI companies continue to grow but not at the expense of the user or a better way to put it — at the expense of the people.
Add onto this potential funding from non-profit organizations, not-for-profits, government initiatives, and social impact investors, and we might begin to see a significant shift in communication technologies towards community, group, and personal-level solutions. When in the history of humankind have people had access to tools like this to leverage their own potential? Never!
Yes, we have a communication problem. Now let’s let the people (the Normies) have a crack at the solution.
