Are We Moving Too Fast Into The Future?
Past Vs Future, Creativity and A.I.
It's no secret that the world is moving fast.
So fast, that we’re in danger of getting whiplash, if we haven't hurt our necks already.
I'm a future oriented person - I love looking ahead, knowing that I can create a better tomorrow, based on the actions of today. A blank canvas, on which to paint a picture of my choosing. However, ever since I was young, I was afraid of the future too. I was afraid of progress and change happening too fast, before I could determine whether the upcoming progress was going to be a positive development.
I remember being 11 years old, and CD’s were becoming a thing in my world. Gone were the days when the films of the cassette tapes would escape their miniature spools and get tangled in my fingers. On one hand, I loved CD’s - they were much tidier to deal with and their sound cleaner. I was gifted a portable CD player and a couple of Anastacia albums for my birthday (anyone else listened to her? She was amazing), and I spent many hours listening on repeat with my headphones.
I loved them. But they were so… futuristic.
Why did we have to be moving so fast with new technology? CD’s were great, but why not stay with cassette tapes? Were they really that bad? Why did CD’s have to be freaky like that? Upon receiving my first CD, I took one look at that thin, shiny disc and thought, “Oh no. The future has arrived”.
At 31 years old, I still ask this question. Why does everything have to move so fast?
Again, as a person, I'm much more future-focused than past-focused. I'm always looking to the future, knowing that it can be better than our present, and doing what I can to make sure it is. I have a deep wish for the kind of progress that makes our lives better and our society kinder. I believe in progress for the sake, and as a result, of conscious growth and evolution.
But I don’t believe in progress, for the sake of progress.
I don’t think that the past is something to be wholly left behind, as if it doesn't matter. “It’s the past, so it's not relevant anymore.” Umm, no.
Sure, don't be stuck in the past. Let go of the ways in which wounds and outdated norms of the past have hurt and held us back - yes. Strive to create a world that is kinder and accepting, respecting every living being and rooting out the ways in which our societies don’t allow for us to live authentically and in alignment with ourselves and with nature. Absolutely.
But part of moving forward, is knowing to take the good of the past with you, into the future. Not to sprint so fast into the future, that you mindlessly drop all that was good as you race forward, acting on an arrogant assumption that there is nothing worth saving. Another way of saying this is - don't throw the baby out with the bath water. Don't throw the valuable things that you’d want to keep, out with what’s dirty and past its use.
Especially because, if you don't know where you’ve been, you can't know where you’re going. And if we’re moving so fast into the future, we have to know where we’re going.
One way in which we have moved forward at an accelerated rate as a society, is with the introduction of A.I.
A.I. fascinates and terrifies me.
When it was first introduced to the wider public, I was adamantly against it. “We’re moving too fast. This is going to have some dire consequences that we’re not thinking about!”
The topic of using A.I for the most beautiful of human pleasures, such as creativity and connection, freaked me out and stirred in me some very strong feelings.
No way would I use A.I. to write the words that go into this newsletter, for instance. Or to execute any creative endeavour I embark on. I’m in the process of self-publishing my first novel, and I can’t fathom the thought of using A.I. for any part of the creative process.
Honestly, what's the point of having a creative endeavour, if it's not me who's doing the creating? Where's my creative satisfaction, joy of following my excitements, discovery of my capabilities and personal transformation after having gone on this epic journey of creating my soul’s work? I don't want to pass up my whole reason of being to a machine. What's the point of being alive if I don't create?! I know that sounds dramatic and I apologise if any of you do create using A.I. - I don’t mean to pass judgement. (Continue reading to see why I'm not actually that harsh in my stance. You may already know, if this isn’t the first post of mine you’re reading).
But creating is one of my greatest joys and, in my opinion, a fundamental part of the human experience. Even for those of us who wouldn’t describe themselves as artists or engage in an artistic hobby - we create our lives with every step and decision we make. Creating is one our greatest and innate strengths as humans.
As a passionate creator, I’d be remiss if I didn't discuss the quality of A.I. ‘works’ themselves. Even when hands are in the right places and the level of technical craft is high - do these works have soul? I'm of the belief that every creation we work on, has a heartbeat. It’s own spirit that wants to be in the world and has taken on a form via our help, so that it can exist and have a life of its own. A.I. created ‘works’ have a form, but, in my opinion, they have no soul. No spirit or heartbeat that resonates with ours and enlivens the form. Because a machine gave birth to it, and not a human. Even if aesthetically they’re beautiful and pleasing to look at.
As you can see, I have hard opinions on the topic, especially as a creator.
And yet, as you may know, I've already used A.I. a bunch of times.
I love to use ChatGPT to to ask the highly specific astrology and Human Design questions that pop into my head - saving its answers on my phone so that I can reread them, whenever I want.
I create tailor-made, journal prompts for me to write to every full and new moon, that take into account the exact astrology of the full\new moon and my specific astrology. I taught you guys how to do it in this post here.
Even for this newsletter, if I'm looking for pictures of something specific, or anything that I can tie into my piece, and I don't have an appropriate photo, or can't find the right stock image to use - I have asked the Generate feature to create an image for me. And I actually quite like the images.
On one hand, I have very strong opinions about A.I. and I’m sometimes nervous about what having this technology means for us, as a society. Especially for future generations, their schooling and their development as people, which I didn’t get into in this post.
But on the other hand, I’ve found uses for it that I enjoy and find helpful and enriching.
Crap. Am I a hypocrite?
No, at least, I don’t mean to be. I’m just learning how to navigate the future and enjoy it's new pleasures, whilst not dropping the gold of the past. I’m discovering that while I hold some strong opinions on the topic, I also have found ways in which I do enjoy using it - and the combination of these two pieces are stirring up new questions for myself to answer.
I don’t think it’s fundamentally bad to embrace these new technologies. I mean, I have - and I’ve found them enjoyable and helpful. When used correctly, they liberate us from tasks that we’re not interested in performing. It alleviates the frustration we sometimes feel when trying to solve a problem we’re either not inspired, or don't have the capacity, to solve ourselves.
But I do think we need to be mindful - how can we use it, and not let it use us? How can we refrain from mindlessly handing over the best of us to A.I., dehumanising ourselves in the process?
My suggestion - get clear on what your values and guiding principles are, so that they will keep you grounded and centred within yourself. So that you don’t lose yourself to A.I.
There’s a quote I’ve come across a couple times, that sums up my own wishes with A.I. very nicely. I don’t know who originated the quote, so if you happen to know - please inform me, so I can give proper credit. I’m paraphrasing.
“I don’t want to give A.I. my art and creativity, so that I can do my laundry and dishes. I want to give A.I. my laundry and dishes, so that I can do my art and creativity.”
My creativity is a crucial part of my humanity. It’s a strongly held value of mine, and one that I cherish, grounding and centring me into myself. I don’t want to give that up.
I think having something that grounds us and centres us within ourselves, will be crucial going forward. Our own set of morals and values that can act as our guiding principles. The world is changing fast, in many beautiful and scary ways. We’ll need to be our own earth, so that we don’t kept swept in the wind. We need to know what gold exists within our past, so we can take it with us into the future. That will require us to be very conscious and mindful.
But Ella, I’m not sure how I feel about A.I.. I just know I like experimenting with it.
Then do that! That’s awesome.
Lately, I often find that I only know how I feel about something, once I've had hands on experience with it. And then I sit with the feelings that my actions have stirred. So if you're the same, dabble away. Sometimes that's the best way to know where you stand. But sit with the feelings after - did it feel good? Did it feel icky? Or maybe a mix of both? What exactly felt good? What exactly felt bad? Where are your boundaries with this thing? What are your guiding principles, that will help you navigate this new terrain?
These are all questions that we need to ask ourselves as individuals (creators and educators, or not), and as a collective.
As for my relationship with A.I., here are the nuggets of Gold From The Past, that I'm keeping with me:
I will never use A.I. to create my soul's creations. My writing, my music and my self expression are mine. I will never give up the satisfaction I get from enacting on my creativity, in the forms I love to be creative.1 My Gold = creative satisfaction, self expression, the personal transformation that occurs as a result etc.
I will never create something I plan to sell, using A.I. Not my work? Not my compensation. My Gold = my integrity. Valuing mine and others' work.
I will continue to research using A.I., but I will be mindful. It’s fun to use ChatGPT to research topics that I’m interested in2, when a pang of curiosity hits. But I will take its answers with a pinch of salt. A.I. gets things wrong! My Gold = my critical and independent thinking. The ability to check many sources. Valuing human insights and perceptions.
I will continue to use A.I. to create tailor-made journal prompts for myself during the new and full moons. It’s a practice I enjoy doing. But even in this practice, I take the prompts that resonate with me and allow myself to respond freely. That’s part of the enjoyment for me - not feeling chained to the prompts or to answering each one in order, rather allowing them to speak to me. My Gold = my intuition to discern what resonates and what doesn’t. To operate as I would naturally. Using my own authority.
As we get propelled into the future and new technologies emerge, I may have differing thoughts or will need to re-evaluate my stances. I may have new insights, or realisations of more Gold From The Past that I should have kept, and will need to trace my steps to fetch them.
The winds of the future are fast and we can't predict how they'll shape us in decades to come. But we can make conscious choices regarding what we’d like to keep with us from the past, when entering the future.
What Golds From The Past are you hoping to keep, as we enter further into the future? What is your relationship to A.I. and what guiding principles do you have with regards to it?
Speak soon,
Love, Ella x
You may notice in many of posts that I have used A.I. for photos. Like I mentioned earlier in the post, I prefer to use my own photos or stock photos when I have ones that are relevant to the paragraph, but use A.I. generated images when I don’t. I don’t feel this infringes on my creativity, because I don’t find my creative satisfaction through creating visual art. The images supplement the medium in which I do find my creative satisfaction - writing.
As mentioned in the post, I only ever use ChatGPT for the specific questions I have in my own esoteric studies and I scour the internet first, before asking ChatGPT. I’ve caught a bunch of mistakes it's made. I would be very hesitant to use it, with regards to delicate and complicated topics that have real world implications.