This week we are leaning into multiple metaphors: AI as a mirror, UX design as a window or room, and life as information. Plus: read about Michael Levin's upcoming presentation at the Imagining Summit, Helen's Book of the Week, and our upcoming events.
It’s easy to fall prey to the design illusion that because LLMs look sleek, they must be well-designed. But aesthetics alone do not equal design. As Steve Jobs once said, “Design is not just what it looks and feels like. Design is how it works.”
It’s curious that these two papers, tackling such similar ideas, came out at the same time. Is this coincidence, or does it tell us something about where the study of life and intelligence is heading?
An exploration of how we might conceptualize the design of AGI within the context of human left and right brains.
An exploration of how we might conceptualize the design of AGI within the context of human left and right brains.
The tension between AI and human functioning highlights unique cooperation. AI uses language, abstraction, and analysis, while humans rely on experience, empathy, and metaphor. AI manipulates static elements well but struggles in a changing world.
This leads to two distinct design approaches for future AI and considerations for "artificial general intelligence" (AGI).
One approach focuses on "left-brained" AI—controlling facts with internal consistency, while relying on humans for context, meaning, and care. Here, machines serve humans. This path is popular due to the challenge of developing AI mimicking human right hemisphere functions.
However, we want machines that can correct contextual mistakes and understand our intended meanings. The design challenge here lies in connecting highly "left-brained" AI to holistic humans in a way that enhances human capabilities.
Alternatively, we could design AI with asymmetry, mirroring the human brain's evolution. Such AI would provide a synthesized perspective before interacting with a human, applying computational power to intuition and addressing human paradoxes. Some envision this as AGI—an all-knowing synthesis machine.
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The Artificiality Weekend Briefing: About AI, Not Written by AI
