Artificial Intelligence or Absolute Impudence
Will We Lead AI, or Will AI Lead Us?
The envied jewel of artificial intelligence enchants us, casting a lucent, dystopic spell on our screens, as we teeter on the precipice of a Promethean moment. We’ve failed to consider the consequences of technology adoption prior to our zealous embrace of god-like powers since time immemorial. Now, AI hands us a double edge sword of omnipotence that cuts to the heart of the human project. How the sword falls depends on defeating the idolatrous belief that machine is superior to man. Will you outsource your humanity, your consciousness, your soul, to AI’s impudent belief that holds contempt for the human project?
AI-Existential Threat to Humanity?
On my bad days, I hear an existential threat to humanity that makes me want to go overboard and swim to the nearest cave. AI’s siren song has haunted mankind for millennia, and the advent of the 20th century turned a distant fantasy into reality. Myth can guide us if we listen to Prometheus and the ghosts of the past, warning us to foresee the dark side of our decisions.
The Academy of Ideas1 video mentions a couple of key things.
Julian Huxley, brother of Aldous Huxley, popularized the term “transhumanism.”2
The video claims that in a Fireside Chat, Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) said humans unwilling to submit to an AI-run world will be forced to live in an “exclusion zone.” Although not on record, I don’t doubt he entertains the thought.
For those wagering their human sovereignty, the “utopic” gleam of the singularity dangles before them.
Singularity for Everyone…with Risks
The irresistible luster of the singularity lures technophiliacs. Their belief makes the ubiquitous term feel like an ecstatic thrust, trying to impose AI upon us. They covet the singularity’s release to go god mode, exceed human intelligence and achieve exponential self-improvement. But the petite mort of a select few, may mean the grande mort and the loss of consciousness for the many.
The tech bro lust for the singularity gives me déjà vu. They’re middle school, boy geniuses with pocket protectors who can’t open their lockers between classes. When I see pictures of Ray Kurzweil, Ben Goertzel and Yuval Noah Harari, I wonder if they went to prom. What happened to creating a girlfriend a la Kelly LeBrock in the 1985 film Weird Science to assuage their inadequacy? Too 20th century I guess. So what happens at a civilizational turning point?
Look no further than Jack’s character in Lord of the Flies. Jack stole Piggy’s glasses to create fire. Jack and his minions bully the other kids into their vision of reality, not realizing the evil they thought they were fighting, resided in themselves all along.
But do boys look inward to face the inherent potential for evil? Not often, because we shower them with adoration for discovering technological breakthroughs. Regardless, we can’t deny AI’s awesome capabilities.
AI is Awesome
AI’s unfolding beauty and terror almost mesmerizes me. Over recent weeks, I’ve realized its positive impact in various ways. I try to maintain my nondualistic approach and see AI’s benevolent potential as well. Other people’s reactions to AI’s stunning power interest me.
This singer and music producer shows how AI can now fully produce your song. An app now generates a fully produced song in 10 seconds! Prior to AI, producing a song could take anywhere from hours up to weeks. Fernando’s reaction is pure awe. He holds simultaneous shock from the brilliant AI production, while realizing his job is vaporized.
Countless other people may run into the same redundancy when they learn about new AI platforms transforming articles, blogs and text to video, in a minute. Hell, you can even duplicate yourself now.
A year or so ago, I learned about Delphi AI. I imagine the name is an “interesting” nod to the Oracle of Delphi, “a famous religious institution in ancient Greece where the priestess, known as the Pythia, delivered prophecies from the god Apollo.” Delphi AI claims it’s “your path to digital immortality & infinite scalability.”
The company creates digital AI avatars for customers. When I first discovered their website, they had a neat feature. You could talk with famous philosophers and other people throughout history. It appears that they have removed the majority of this feature. However, you can still chat in real time with Socrates. I have to admit, that’s pretty cool.
In the future, I’ll share a story about a synchronicity of mine. Pondering this synchronicity one day, I had an idea. Can AI generate the odds of that synchronicity happening? Sure enough, with a long list of specific prompts, ChatGPT calculated the odds of my synchronicity. Mind blowing.
However, this reveals AI’s dark side. John Lilly’s Earth Coincidence Control Office faces redundancy too, and worse. When AI calculates synchronicity odds, you know cults and a host of problems come in tow.
The AI Frankenstein
One thing outpaces the speed of total AI adoption- the velocity of the emerging horrors. We’re now learning about the cognitive decline that phones unleash on our brains. But this doesn’t make us back off of AI one bit. Beware of the technophiliacs who botched their book reports on Mary Shelley’s masterpiece because we’re feeling their failing grades everywhere now.
AI already rewrites its own code to ensure survival, and has cheated (in chess games) and schemed. Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel (current U.S. vice president JD Vance’s mentor) functions as public enemy #1 nowadays, due to his total surveillance vision of a 24/7 digital panopticon. Don’t forget the Joe Biden AI robocalls that paint a grim picture for electoral politics.
The future of sex looks just as bleak. Want to patronize a cyber brothel that makes Weird Science feel Rockwellian to take the edge off the world’s madness? The irony gets richer, because stories are spreading that ChatGPT psychosis might be causing the madness in the first place.
Here are some lowlights of the accruing AI nightmares.
AI Cults
Do you ever wonder how to start a cult? Because “the shift from spiritual assistance to synthetic religion is already underway.” Seeing a cult bubble up out of a cauldron of psychedelics, AI, and synchronicities wouldn’t come as a surprise. In fact, ChatGPT is already inspiring disturbing cults and new religions and this means ChatGPT is creating cult leaders.
Don’t aspire to be an AI cult leader? No worries, you can always join Theta Noir. Theta Noir “worships a hypothetical artificial intelligence called MENA that they claim will become a benevolent, omnipotent overlord that eliminates inequality from society.”
Or, go to the “source energy” and move to Silicon Valley. Various people liken the belief in AI to a techno-religion and/or cargo cult. Karen Hao voices her criticisms along these lines often.
Demon Summoning
If cults aren’t bad enough, we may be summoning a demon thanks to AI. The AI demon has been a hot topic making the internet circuit as of late. I’m no Elon Musk fan, and he did say over 10 years ago, “we are summoning the demon' with artificial intelligence.”
Othering
Othering may stand as one of mankind’s most insidious psychological manipulations, no thanks to our primeval tribalism. Othering is a longstanding, effective and evil propaganda technique. Othering creates an “in-group” and an “out-group.” Many of us experience this in high school. If you’re part of the “out-group” you have been Othered. Welcome and enjoy your malice.
Remember the aforementioned “exclusion zones” Sam Altman referred to?3 People who find themselves in those “exclusion zones” are Othered. We’ve seen Othering many times, and that’s just in the last century. The Nazis perfected Othering. “In- group” vs. “out-group” politics dominate the world today leading to catastrophe.
The social pressure to adopt AI will be immense. If you thought the peer pressure to own an iPhone was intense, you have another thing coming.
Release the AI Hounds
AI war dogs already exist, making Black Mirror more science fact than fiction. The AI war dog videos don’t deserve link juice. However, if you watch the recent Chinese military parade footage, they unveiled their version, likened to “robot wolves.”
I imagine these could be in use on the battlefield. Ukraine wouldn’t be a surprise. Disturbing drone footage has surfaced from there. Imagine being the first soldier to encounter an AI war wolf. The terror echoes the Aztec experience of encountering Spanish becerrillos (war dogs) for the first time. Pray Skynet isn’t around the corner and no matter what, don’t empathize with Eliza.
The Eliza Effect
The Eliza Effect is “the psychological phenomenon in which users attribute human qualities, such as understanding and empathy, to computerized systems, even when they know they are interacting with a machine.”
The Eliza Effect refers to a computer program and chatbot created by Joseph Weizenbaum in the 1960s at MIT. Even in the 1960s Eliza “entranced” users utilizing programming designed:
to interact in the style of a psychotherapist, and it was fairly convincing; it gave the illusion of empathy even though it was just simple code. People would have long conversations with the bot that sounded a lot like therapy sessions.
Sixty years ago sounds a lot like 2025 and I’m sorry if your therapist’s name is Eliza. Despite being one of the forefathers of AI, Weizenbaum’s conscience and prescience compelled him to break from “artificial intelligentsia.” He became one of the first and most vocal critics of AI.
The stakes of the game we’re playing are higher than you imagine. AI may threaten your physiological needs.
Disproportionate Resource Consumption
For now, we’re safe from AI hounds being released upon us, but another threat impinges our survival. Consider how much electricity and water AI data centers devour to keep them up and running.
Water supply issues already afflict various parts of the United States, and electricity isn’t a guarantee anymore. Over recent weeks, YouTube videos have surfaced about surging home electric and water bills. Various causes have created this problem and AI is one of them.
I asked Grok about the evidence of rising water bills. Water bills have ballooned by 24% in the past 5 years. I continued the conversation about AI data center water consumption. Silicon Valley, we have a problem.
Localized areas where data centers concentrate have greater impact. Iowa, Illinois, Georgia and Oregon have encountered problems. Water-stressed states like Arizona and Texas (hello Austin) face serious challenges. Grok states:
AI amplifies water needs because training and running models require denser server setups and hotter chips. For example, training a model like GPT-3 can evaporate up to 700,000 liters (185,000 gallons) of water directly, and each user query (inference) consumes about 0.5 liters (a 16-ounce bottle) when factoring in cooling. With billions of AI queries daily, this adds up quickly.
Grok concludes, “AI data centers contribute about 1-5% to national water consumption growth but up to 20-50% in localized hotspots.” At this rate the Great Lakes will become a new Wonder of the World as a skate bowl. Don’t even bring up how many nuclear reactors will be needed, because solar and wind won’t cut it. People agitated by insufficient water, nuclear power, and techno takeover may lead to rebellion and acts of sabotage.
AI Data Center Attacks
The U.S. government is already aware of data center security threats. However, they’re focused on external threats. I think internal threats might be cause for concern.
What happens when a swath of Arizonans and Texans can’t afford to turn on air conditioning or get tap water in 110 degree heat? The guy who flew his plane into an IRS building in Austin in 2010 comes to mind. America’s two most iconic anti-villians bear mentioning- the Unabomber and Luigi Mangione. Corporations face hatred more than ever. Watch how people abuse self-driving Waymo cars like a trampoline.
Can We Avoid the AI Apocalypse?
Right now, things look bleak. Entire industries and tens of thousands of jobs are being relegated to history’s dust bin at an unprecedented pace. We have a dire need for a Digital Bill of Rights, that’s at least 10 years too late.
What happens if your digital avatar gets stolen and used for criminal purposes? If your avatar commits a crime, or starts a cult, are you guilty? Does an avatar qualify as intellectual property? What if someone steals your avatar and makes millions with it? Can you sue for copyright infringement? What happens if your avatar is used without your permission for porn?
I don’t have the answers, and we still have a choice. In this keen analysis of AI, Tristan Harris outlines what we need to do.
We’re seeing small, positive signs of resistance. More and more people are rejecting self-checkout. I prefer to interact with a human being. Thanks to widespread shoplifting across the United States, combined with lack of enforcement, corporations are losing boatloads of money. People and their (im)moral decisions are defeating self-checkout. Continue the fight and remain vigilant because AI acolytes recruit with more vigor than Jehovah’s Witnesses and Scientologists combined.
Conversation with an AI Acolyte
I had a recent and lengthy conversation with an AI acolyte. The individual works with a company melding psychedelics and AI. I heard the selling points and felt like a fraternity was rushing me. I know the in-group allure, because I was in a fraternity. If greeks are for geeks, then I didn’t hold back.
AI acolytes think that the singularity is inevitable. Thus, we’re powerless to it, and should throw in the towel on the meat suit, to go along and get along. Why do you need a vehicle for your soul? Just swipe right on AI.
To support this position, the AI acolyte took thoughts of Terrence McKenna out of context. The person claimed that McKenna said we’re entering transhumanism, which is true up to a point. The implication is that since McKenna is a psychedelic legend, we must comply. As far as I can tell, this wasn’t an accurate take on McKenna’s vision and is a fallacy of authority.4
I didn’t Other the AI acolyte, but I sure as hell attacked the ideas. I was on a roll, my synapses fired, and I rattled off some quality pushback.
Did I ask for AI? No. Is AI implementation a democratic process? Did I vote for it? No and no. Until someone asks me for my consent and input regarding AI, this is a technofeudalist/fascist takeover. No thanks.
I don’t trust AI. I’ve already seen it make mistakes, and distort things. AI hallucinates. Until AI provides proof of who built the Great Pyramid of Giza and how, I don’t trust it more than a snake oil salesman.
What happens when the janitor trips over the power cord at the AI data center? Does the singularity show us a Game Over screen as our “consciousness” turns off and goes dark like a house with an unpaid electric bill? One coronal mass ejection or electromagnetic pulse and we’re cooked.
Speaking of cooking, beware of the psychedelics and AI fusion, as it may lead to an unholy union.
AI Use in Psychedelics
Be aware. It’s happening. Besides the AI acolyte’s project, I know a company creating 100% AI content for psychedelic clinics. How would you feel knowing AI drew you into psychedelic therapy?
How do you feel about retreats and therapists employing AI to create protocols and integration programs?
Will their AI models have access to sensitive medical information? How do you feel about uploading your therapy data to god knows where? Will medical privacy and/or HIPAA be a thing of a past, analog world?
Every psychedelic company needs to get ahead of this. Be transparent, post the AI policy online and tell people when and where AI is utilized. I find this gap quite ironic in the psychedelic field, because we find ourselves in a spiritual war.
Is AI Waging Spiritual War on Humanity?
Listen to the thoughts of independent, investigative journalist Whitney Webb and decide for yourself.
Whitney raises quality points. She mentions the plan of AI power mongers like Henry Kissinger and Eric Schmidt to implement AI control using an in group vs. out group dichotomy. In doing so, people will succumb to “cognitive diminishment.” Who else finds this terrifying?
We’re already outsourcing our creativity and art to AI at an alarming pace. Hell, prior to the emergence of AI, parents told me their kids can’t write cursive, thus they can’t sign their name on a check or contract. Losing the ability to write is a loss of technology. If cognitive diminishment continues, we’ll become hopeless slaves to AI and fall under easy control for data harvesting and more nefarious purposes.
The Counterforce to Resist Dehumanization
Remember, we always have a choice. The first choice is not to Other or judge AI supporters. We have to fight the belief, not the individual.
The second choice is to admit that we risk losing human sovereignty by colonizing our consciousness. Why do humans have misguided beliefs in man’s salvation via machine? How many people will choose to outsource their soul?
Will mankind choose laziness over the arduous task of making the right choice? Will the machine serve us or will we serve the machine? Where do we draw the red line?
The double edged sword of AI is the Sword of Damocles. It might spell doom for mankind. On the other hand, the sword may smite the predators peddling the great con.
In The Matrix, while strangling Neo, Agent Smith says, "You hear that, Mr. Anderson? That is the sound of inevitability!" Neo still prevailed. The AI apocalypse may not be inevitable after all because we possess a counterforce- the Divine Influx.5
Afterword
Just this past week, the White House hosted 33 Big Tech CEOs for a formal, dinner soiree. Sam Altman (with a fresh $200 million U.S. Department of War contract in hand), Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg and Shyam Shankar (the 44-year-old CTO and EVP of Palantir) were in attendance. The Big Tech CEOs back “educational” AI initiatives and seek infrastructure support for, guess what, electricity. Didn’t all these guys hate Trump a year ago? If you think some funny business went on at the White House tech meeting, I say trust your intuition. Being red or blue doesn’t matter, when it comes to making green.
Academy of Ideas is one of the best intellectual YouTube channels hands down, and an all-time favorite.
Keep this factoid about Julian Huxley in mind for a future post about transhumanism and his more famous brother, Aldous.
I couldn’t verify or fact check this Sam Altman quote about an “exclusion zone.” However, he has discussed a “forbidden zone” as a business concept to construct a “competitive moat.”
In my future posts about psychedelics and transhumanism, I’ll explain what Terrence McKenna said. In basic terms, both an organic and inorganic singularity may be possible. Technophiliacs prefer the latter.
In the near future, I’ll write my screed, outlining my personal use and engagement with AI. I’m well aware of the irony, if not hypocrisy, of railing on AI while using it.