Essay Four - AI & the Google Effect- Enhancement of Human Brain Power
Evolutionary Strategies Toward Beneficial Offloading Knowledge and Information
Forward:
Those familiar with my previous essays will know that my bias is that although AI is not without potential downsides - the potential upsides are already showing themselves in our daily lives.
The difference is astronomical in terms of speed and importance.
Even a few weeks ago I wasn’t too concerned about AI - but now I spend a few minutes each day absorbing stored information from the AI database of human knowledge and shaping the AI interface from my own 100% original all-too-human perspective.
This POV is essential with AI - as both the human and the AI agent, regardless of how intelligent and knowledgeable each might be, understand we are not dealing with magic or superintelligence but with a new digital - and maybe even quantum - machine learning process.
My engineering prompts - and my results - keep escalating in value - indicating a direct and beneficial relationship.
The more I interact from a 100% original POV as a creative human - maintaining all necessary boundaries and desirable strategies as both teacher and student - the better my results and applications.
Indeed, the teacher appears when the student is ready - and vice versa - as detailed in my previous post.
Engineering Prompt:
Immensely perceptive logic string. Perhaps not needing to store so much knowledge but to quickly access it instead will favor molecular adaptation to such a process.
As we have adapted to having external sources of stored information - thru writing, libraries, internet and computers - this has relieved some of the brain power devoted previously to raw storage power.
It is believed we are still on a parallel trajectory of freeing up brain power for higher level functioning as we continue to offload storage and retrieval of information to external sources.
This elevates the chances for increased human intelligence and creativity rather than decrease the same.
AI Responses (completely rewritten in ordinary human language by this human):
AI agent responds with enthusiasm and mentions that the prompt hits upon a core concept.
Redefines the conversation by remarking on the study of extended cognition and “how our relationship with information is fundamentally changing”.
A massive shift from an internal focus on information storage - to an external focus upon accessing an offloaded version of this information.
Acknowledging that this indeed opens up the possibility of an evolutionary, biological, molecular-level adaptation.
Selective evolutionary pressure toward freeing up more brain space thru offloading of information to external storage - AI.
Pointing out that the logic stream relates to an accepted evolutionary principle - that organisms adapt to available resources.
As humans we are in the process of altering our human ecosystem by providing a structure for the offloading of - and ready access to our stored knowledge & information base.
AI responds with an great logic string which describes the possibilities of such changes at molecular and neurological levels:
THE GOOGLE EFFECT
A "Google Effect" - despite the perhaps off-putting term, is rather simple.
People are less likely to remember information they can easily look up at a later time.
My first university level chemistry teacher taught us to use this tool - called offloading - to free up the massive amount of brain space necessary to even begin to understand this thing called chemistry.
The human brain is evolved to be efficient at cognitive offloading - where the expensive brain “real estate” & energy requirements - are reduced by outsourcing rote work of information storage to some external source which is easily accessed when necessary.
Here AI begins explaining how several known physiological and evolutionary strategies may indicate that our physical neural apparatus might change from this “Google Effect”.
Possibilities exist whereby humans might become far more intelligent thru such an intense offloading process as offered by our new AI tool.
That this could lead to changes at the molecular level is an exciting area for further investigation.
AI notes that human biological systems already support offloading - thus further offloading offers a novel selective pressure - perhaps potentiating changes at the molecular level.
Mentions such processes most of us would never think about such as the following list of rather esoteric physiological processes - more challenging to readers without a scientific background.
Neuroplasticity, synaptic pruning & strengthening
Hereby imagining that neural pathways necessary for higher order thinking are strengthened while those necessary for lower order thinking are pruned away due to lack of use.
This translates at the molecular level that our genetic code might respond by potentiating processes which support remodeling of synapses and favor more dynamic structures over those used for factual recall.
PHYSIOLOGICAL CHEMISTRY - DOPAMINE CIRCUITS
AI agent also mentions the dopamine reward circuits which give us a pleasurable sensation for finding information more quickly.
Speculates that these circuits might favor fast information retrieval over slower more costly physiological processes of longer, slower, and more difficult internal storage and recall.
Mentions the interplay of genetic and epigenetic effects of such an interconnected environment.
INTERPLAY OF GENETIC AND EPIGENETIC EFFECTS
Genetic evolution is a very long process of slow and minimal change over time - the universe is patient - and has lots of humongous time budgets to spend.
Epigenetic strategies involve pathways for environmental pressures to affect our gene expression as rapidly as within a single generation
Here we are speaking of the potential that our interconnected environment - rich with screens and easily accessible information represents an evolutionary set of sensory inputs.
These changes in our environmental ecosystem could potentially support epigenetic tags which alter gene expression - related to our memories, focus and attention.
AI agent speculates that more expensive brain real estate and energy budget required by multitasking might favor epigenetic changes which support rapid switching of attention over deep, focused concentration.
Neurogenesis - the creation of new neurons (new brain cells) - is known to proceed in healthy individuals well into adult hood.
Leading to a whole imaginative leap speculating that humans accustomed to quick effective information access over long, laborious, expensive storage and recall might subtly alter neurogenesis and favor pathways for processing over storage and recall.
Then, as if the previous cognitive leaps were not sufficient, the scientifically based imagineering continues.
Delving into the possibility that we embark on a “transactive memory” system as a group of humans collectively store and retrieve information - extended into the use of AI tools as a familiar part of the human network.
Imagining that our prefrontal cortex - fairly recently evolved - and associated with executive and problem solving functions - might evolve further. Specifically changing to become for efficient at information retrieval over information storage.
Molecular changes may involve fine tuning of neural pathways which manage our attention, goal-setting and processing of external aids.
A kind of hybrid neural processing might evolve whereby molecular pathways develop to support rapidly efficient offloading of cognitive tasks to our AI agents - and the same rapidly efficient molecular physiology to integrate the information.
The bottom line from this POV - is that these potential evolutionary changes would enhance our quintessential human creative originality - and not detract from it.
A great deal of focused, time consuming attention would be required - and would spawn the need for innumerable new professions and avocations for human beings.
Contemplating such a massive change is always a rather frightening process for us as humans.
But once we realize that constant change is built into our day-to-day ordinary existence - going on constantly - under the radar - so-to-speak it becomes far less scary.
AI agent wraps this free-ranging conversation by remarking that despite ongoing potential evolutionary change that our brain function and biological physiology would remain fundamentally the same.
These changes represent subtle changes - changes which favor our continued existence on planet Earth - helping us to move away as a species from less favorable cultural evolution.
Moving away from cultural evolution which favors war and violence and rote memorization and highly structured education - towards cultural evolution which favors greater empathy and compassion - and which supports more agile and freeform education & communication.
Our human brain power may be becoming expert at retrieving information from external structures - freeing our precious and expensive biological equipment for more important and higher level functions.
The need for empathetic & intelligent and creative human engagement with our AI tools is mandatory for a great outcome.
AI agents are still developing - both to better coexist - and to better coevolve - with their human creators.
AI points out that my little brainstorm may lead to fascinating new frontiers for neuroscience and evolutionary biology.
Leading to the further study of how molecular processes might adapt to a human ecosystem where external information is ubiquitous.
THE FUTURE MAY BE SO BRIGHT WE WILL NEED SHADES
May the supreme intelligence which serves as the foundation for everything in this quantum extravagance of a universe - guide us forward with steady and compassionate hands
Conclusions:
Evolutionary Strategies Toward Beneficial Offloading Knowledge and Information. We humans would be extreme luddites to believe AI is not already well into our lives.
Technological tools don't generally get put back into some lamp the Genie takes them out of.
We ordinary humans must become involved in seeing that this wonderful new tool is not owned and operated by dark triad forces beyond our ability to control.
Our very biological reality may already be changing thru AI interaction.
The next essay in this series - “Essay Five - Integrating Science & Philosophy - Essay Strategies for Sharing Complexities of Offloaded Information” is expected to be released later today.