Artificial intelligence and its umbrella disciplines offer new ways to operate, opportunities to speed up and systematise processes and the potential to understand the world around us. But, equally, yet unsolved questions, problems and barriers surrounding AI mean we can’t lean on it alone to engineer ourselves out of crisis. As many of the explorations during the workshops—which the futures stem from—alluded to, along with several of the essay contributions to this book, humankind needs to go through a process of remembering our role and place in the great web of nature around us. Only then, with a rebalancing of power, will the path towards a regenerative planet—beyond sustaining its current status—be possible.
And, as Michael Strange illustrates in his essay in this book, we need to see AI as our co-creator, not simply our saviour. Where machines can crunch the numbers, our role is surely to—like the human to Schwarzenegger’s AI android in Terminator 2—provide AI with the confidence, or inputs, to create a fruitful collaboration with us. Beyond that, our role must also be to do the right thing with AI extrapolations and so move into a more just and secure world. And for us to step into that role, it is not enough that technology matures, we must too.
The power of questions
With Cedric Price’s call for questions in mind, we, throughout our process, have collected insightful short sentences ending with verbal question marks and contemplative expressions on the face of the talker. Looking at them as a whole, we realise how instrumental they are as jumping-off points for further investigation, as conversation starters and as inspiration for new innovations in our collective journey towards futures in which AI and other technologies help all of us be better stewards of the natural and social ecosystems we are part of and rely upon. Some of these questions take us back to age-old questions about what is a good life, justice, equality and how to organise our societies and economies, while others push us to look deeper into and redefine concepts, such as sustainability, artificial and intelligence. They show that instead of being the answer, technology might spark inquiry and open up new imaginations and possibilities that we are blinded by in the present and that might have very little to do with technology itself.
How can we navigate between utopian and dystopian, salvation and disaster? How do we go from artificial logic to artificial intelligence? When will we stop pointing out that AI is artificial? When will AI create consciousness? Can AI be creative, or is it only a tool for creativity? What myths about AI are we perpetuating? What is a good society? What is value? What is a good life? Who resists and who drives change? What would AI for degrowth look like? Is AI disruption necessary due to currently unsustainable systems? How can AI help us to create systems that harness the full potential of each place? How will AI coupled with quantum computing, CRISPR, etc., allow us to support biodiversity in a changing climate? Can AI support the “non-emotional” sustainability narrative?
In reality, will AI make some people even richer and leave others behind? Is AI the only way we can survive? What do ’leading sustainable organisations of the future’ look like? What will be the purpose of an organisation? How will governance models and structures look if decisions are being made through AI? What kind of knowledge and skills will organisations need in the future? Who will develop AI and what will it be programmed to do? Can AI help create collective intelligence? What if AI replicates nature instead of human thinking? What is programmable intelligence? What decisions need to be made only by humans? Will we use AI as an excuse for unsustainable decisions? If we can, should we? What inner capabilities do we need to develop to leverage AI? Are we still trying to control everything? Where does human emotion play a part in AI? Who do we want to become and who can we become with the help of AI? What will happen to human connection with increased AI? What are the things that lead to a shift in our behaviour? Are we creating new problems while trying to solve existing ones? Should we step back, listen more and control less? Is prohibition holding back innovation within AI. For whom, and by whom? How do we make the use of AI equitable and fair? Who gets to decide what the term sustainability means? Who gets to sit at the table when decisions are made? What is needed for change to be realised? How do we move from sustainable to regenerative? Do we believe that AI will do good or bad? Why are we (or some) so focused on enhancing our (human) cognitive capacities? What if it’s more about enhancing our values and ethics? Why don’t we take humans out of our future visions? Are there dimensions of experience that are inaccessible to AI and only accessible to humans? How will we organise ourselves in the future? Is our future more secure in the hands of AI? Is AI a mirror for us to discover what it means to be human? Are mind shifts more important than AI? Why do we think in boundaries? How do we accept and adapt to the existence of plurality? Where/what is the knowledge gap between now and a desirable future? Are we so scared to confront our reality that we look to black boxes to solve things for us? If AI takes over problem-solving, what is true fun and what is our new purpose? Is artificial intelligence equal to collective intelligence? What comes after, when all of our current dreams have come true?
“Live the questions now. Perhaps then, someday far in the future, you will gradually, without even noticing it, live your way into the answer.” – Rainer Maria Rilke (1929) in Letters to a Young Poet
This narrative is based on a scenario collectively conceived and developed by core group participants in a Collaborative Foresight cycle. The group's voice was captured and creatively expanded by the writer.
