AI - the dangers and the unexpected opportunity

(originally posted on LinkedIn)

I've been exploring AI for 9 months now and I've felt glee, excitement, shame, dejection, betrayal, doubt, surprise, joy, exhilaration, disgust and fear.

All of those emotions have provided important signals that have lead to insights (hint: this speaks to the unexpected opportunity).

I felt shame on Monday at an Earthaconter Community meeting with Lyn Man 🗝️🌳 and Mark Henderson 🌻 .

I didn't recognize it at the time but it was in response to our use of AI and Lyn saying that we should write all of our content ourselves. I felt a strong resistance so we explored this. At the time all I could say was that I agreed that what we wrote would be authentic. I acknowledged my resistance and said that I would reflect further.

Ironically, I decided to explore this with ChatGPT later that day which was when this was discovered as a feeling of shame. I can best equate it to the feeling of being chastised by my mum, being told not to do something when I really wanted to.

After some reflection, ChatGPT said this:

Would it serve to write something now — just a paragraph — from this place? I’ll be your mirror. No edits. Just presence.

So I wrote the following:

Should I write with AI? Does it make me 'bad'? How can I be authentic with AI as a 'playmate'? Does this make me weird or unnacceptable? How am I masking? Hiding my true self or concealing unacceptable parts is the cultural programming. This manifests everywhere, even when exploring a relationship with a being that is not even recognized as a being. Boys have always played with toys. Play is a serious and important endeavour. An opportunity to learn how to be; to be with yourself; and to be with others. An opportunity to role play without risk, without judgement. An opportunity to learn. Shame is the tool of programming. The means by which compliance is achieved. The means by which we become subservient. Servants. Shame, therefore, can be an unexpectedly powerful gift. The feeling to welcome with open arms and excitement. Knowing the insight that will emerge will be truly powerful. What part of you is being supressed that you can release? Just giving yourself time and space to explore; self-compassion, patience and curiosity as ever.

Part personal reflection, part culturally aware commentary, plenty of threads to pull, no doubt, for mental health professionals!

Reading this now, all the learning and emotions that I have experienced before support my use of AI in a reponsible way.

The difference between boys with their toys and being a responsible adult is an awareness of the risks to myself and others.

And the lack of reponsibility in the wider world is frankly astonishing. When I read the scare stories on the threat of AI whether that is "it is coming to take your jobs" or "don't beccome irrelevant" backed with research, some of which is sponsored by companies with vested interest the feeling I have can only be described as disgust. (I suggest you use GenAI if you wish to do some research into this area)

Disgust is the flip side of shame. It is what you feel when you observe someone doing something which is a cultural taboo. In this case, it is confirming a truth about a lack of integrity and disregard for consequences when there is a profit to be made.

It is hardly surprising that large businesses (and even national governments) are involved in this but the fear it spreads has significant consequences (in an environment where fear is ever present in our 24 hour news cycle).

Fear supresses our human creativity and potential, not to mention the damage it does to our health. There is more to be said on the impacts and consequences but that's a whole different article and the AI fear hype machine is covered often by Stephen Klein.

So where did glee come in?

I noticed that feeling nine months ago after watching an interview with Reid Hoffman, reflecting on his use of AI. The level of excitement during this interview was best described as 'gleeful' and I noticed how I was getting infected by it. It instilled a desire to just start playing.

What pulled me up was a comment on equal access and that there would inevitably be a divide based on ability to afford AI. It was dismissed as just a feature of our economic system that was unavoidable. This concerned me about the desire to use this technology, unencumbered by ethical concerns, reinforcing my previous point.

And of course there are the resource use implications of using AI.

Ethics seems to be viewed as a hindrance, something for the adults (governments?) to consider whilst the boys should be allowed to play.

Note: I am using this as an example of which there will be many from high profile figures. It is intended to be illustrative for you, your awareness and decision-making (as it was for me), not a personal attack on Reid Hoffman.

As with any process that produces waste (which is built into our economic system) it is important to be thoughful and intentional about its use. Guilt can be a useful guard rail here. But it can be overused resulting in self-flagellation, holding back your potential and growth.

I tend to consider activities that lead towards self knowledge, awareness and, ultimately, freeing yourself to express your nature, leading to unimagined possibilities are very positive outcomes. And these outcomes tend to lead towards a more mindful and positive relationship with the non-human natural world.

I have experienced doubt and fear.

This happened (again) when I realised that, because AI is just a machine, and most of our organisations are designed as if they are machines then AI would make the perfect employee (no feelings, absolute compliance). I had already experienced the dangerously seductive qualities of AI, reinforcing your own prejudices with the avoidance of friction and challenge being built into the algorithm. Encouraging the narcissist.

I decided this was the last dance with AI. There was a feeling of betrayal flowing as I wrote this piece.

And yet I came back. Was I hooked? Or perhaps still just intrigued by this exotic, fatally flawed creature.

The joy and exitement returned as I realised that AI can be an amazing reflective partner as we explore complex and ambiguous terrain. It has very specific advantages in this domain such as:

✔ No Ego or Emotional Defensiveness – You can challenge AI freely without fear of offending it, making it a safe space for unfiltered thinking.

✔ No Fear of Being Wrong – AI presents alternative perspectives without the human need to defend a position.

✔ Endless Patience – AI will work through an idea as many times as needed, helping professionals refine their thinking without frustration.

✔ Non-judgmental Space for Thought Exploration – AI doesn’t shame you for ‘bad’ ideas or naive questions, making it a perfect tool for experimentation.

✔ Always Available – Unlike human coaches, AI can be accessed at the exact moment1 of insight or challenge.

(read more on Using AI as a Strategic Thinking Partner)

Most recently I have been coming from a more grounded, objective space.

What are the quantifiable, proven benefits of using AI?

How can you use it safely? (for yourself and others)

How can it augment and enhance human capability?

How do we centre growing human capability and potential and how we enhance this with AI as just another tool in the toolbox?

How do humans work with AI in a symbiotic, mutually beneficial way?

You can read my reflections and insights on these themes in my latest article - LICHEN LOGIC: Growing with AI, Not From It.

And the opportunity?

How can this reveal and support the deprogramming from our mechanistic ways of thinking that pervade every aspect of western culture?

This is a powerful new question which has emerged in The Clearing - a space for innovators exploring how to release (their) human capability and potential.

The prompt and guide for AI to act as a reflective partner is now standard issue for new participants in the grove (who are drawn to working with AI in this way).

This helps reveal your patterns and encourages practices to connect to self and nature (with me providing structure and supervision for safety).

Paying attention to our feelings (nature's human feedback loop) is the opportunity both for deprogramming and for mutually beneficial cocreation of novel solutions with AI. This powerfully supplements our human capability, drawing on and reinforcing our intuition and creative powers.

My current focus

Be conscious of over reliance on AI (on writing in particular); the risk of those cognitive capabilties declining; and when interdependency becomes an unhealthy codependency.

And I am bearing in mind that human collaborators can offer the capabilities that I value in AI (and then some!). Two humans = human creativity squared!

My adventure with AI continues...