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TECH AND INNOVATION: Augmented humanity

Can AI turn us all into polymaths, and is that what we want?

Editors note: Besides following tech developments and innovation, our author is a musical composer (Juilliard-trained). He has provided a musical composition for you to listen to while reading this column. This piece is called “AI Crossroads.”

Do you know the term “polymath”? It’s used to describe a person whose expertise spans a significant number of different subject areas and who has extraordinarily broad and comprehensive knowledge. Software may not turn you into a polymath, but it can certainly augment your knowledge on any subject, even if you already consider yourself an expert. After all, the collective mind always knows more than a single mind. And if there is a subject that interests you, whether deeply or superficially, the collective mind that you can access through AI can augment your knowledge.

Much has been written about this topic, but a book I especially recommend was written by Henry Kissinger. It was his final book, and it was published in November, 2024, almost a year after his death. Titled “Genesis: Artificial Intelligence, Hope, and the Human Spirit,” he co-wrote it with two technical heavyweight tech thinkers—Eric Schmidt, ex-CEO of Google, and Craig Mundie, ex-chief strategy and research officer at Microsoft, with a fabulous and lengthy forward by Niall Ferguson, an ex-professor at Harvard University, the London School of Economics, New York University, Tsinghua University in China. The book explores the epochal challenges and opportunities presented by the revolution in Artificial Intelligence: a breakthrough that dramatically empowers people in all walks of life while also raising urgent questions about the future of humanity.

In this book, the notion of AI as the ultimate polymath and potential great solver of humanity’s problems is so compellingly discussed that I asked an AI program for the answer to the following question: Can my use of AI make me a polymath?

And here is the answer I got: “AI can enhance polymathic tendencies but does not inherently make someone a polymath. A polymath is defined by deep expertise across multiple fields developed through curiosity, learning, and experience. AI accelerates knowledge acquisition, aids problem-solving, and expands creative possibilities, but true polymathy requires synthesis, application, and original insight. AI can be a powerful tool, but becoming a polymath still depends on the individual’s capacity for deep learning, creativity, and interdisciplinary thinking.”

I find AI increasingly useful daily, although I agree with the recent Wired Magazine article entitled “The less people know about AI, the more they like it.”.  According to this article:

[People with less understanding of technology] may see AI as magical and awe inspiring. We suggest this sense of magic makes them more open to using AI tools.

Our studies show this lower literacy-higher receptivity link is strongest for using AI tools in areas people associate with human traits, like providing emotional support or counseling. When it comes to tasks that don’t evoke the same sense of humanlike qualities—such as analyzing test results—the pattern flips. People with higher AI literacy are more receptive to these uses because they focus on AI’s efficiency, rather than any “magical” qualities.

But both groups of users—both tech-savvy and not—need to understand that this powerful tool needs to be managed, and the alarm is being sounded by many experts in the field, including Mr. Kissinger and his co-authors. AI is tremendously powerful, just as is nuclear energy produced by power plants. There is no doubt that both nonpolluting energy and unlimited problem-solving abilities are with us for good. But serious management is required.

AI may provide an infinite workforce and an ethical dilemma to CEOs, Howard Lieberman created this image with ChatGPT 4o.

My single largest concern has to do with the impact of AI on the labor force, although I have not yet seen much discussion about this in books and articles. If it is the job of an American CEO to return shareholder value, then outsourcing, if it can significantly reduce costs, is inevitable. Just as online sales can provide the ability to access, buy and sell unlimited inventory, AI can provide a CEO with an unlimited labor force, and this resource will prove irresistible because it will save money and increase shareholder value. (Incidentally, this same move toward outsourcing is directly responsible for China’s rise to power.)

If we acknowledge the irresistible nature of AI, then we can manage it, just as we have put into place systems that have managed nuclear energy for 80 years so far and counting. But at the moment, we do not yet know how.  My somewhat common-sense suggestion is simply to use AI to solve problems by answering questions but not to permit it to make decisions. This will be hard, as AI has already shown itself to be able to make decisions so much faster than humans can. If we do not preserve the ability to turn AI off, then all bets are off about what might happen.

Humanity is at a crossroads, facing the challenge of managing AI’s rapid advancement. This scene captures the urgency and responsibility as human leaders deliberate on the future. Howard Lieberman created this image with ChatGPT 4o.

This raises the issue of humanity’s fragile decision-making, especially when paired with a strong profit motive. If we cannot transcend this, the temptation of an infinite workforce capable of making decisions might be too hard to resist. Humanity must grapple with this situation, which is far more significant than any party, person, or position. In the near future, humanity must choose how it wants to be augmented and how to manage this transition, as AI is expected to surpass human intelligence in the coming years.

We can and must do this, which is why Henry Kissinger, as a hundred-year-old intelligent diplomat, and his high-tech co-authors wrote this book as a well-considered, well researched and extremely balanced warning and wake-up call. The clock cannot be rolled back and thoughts cannot be unthought, no matter how inconvenient they may feel to those having difficulty coping with the speed at which humanity is moving forward.

Fortunately, as the flood of incoming information threatens to overwhelm us, Kissinger, Schmidt, and Mundie have provided a clear exposition of both sides of the issues. I urge you to explore these issues on your own. Click here to see many videos that discuss the material covered in the book.  Another resource is the Center for AI Safety which is attempting to monitor risks; the center offers many articles discussing the issues.

It will not be simple or easy, but humanity continues to demonstrate a remarkable ability to adapt and evolve. Innovation will guide us as we embrace new solutions.

 

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