"The deeper issue is uniformity of thought. These systems can test your personality with startling accuracy. Combined with your chat history and prompts, the model nudges you into particular 'basins of attraction.' You think you've had an original idea, but you haven't. The model blends and regurgitates existing material. Multiply that across millions of users and intellectual diversity collapses. John Stuart Mill argued that diversity of opinion sustains democracy. If AI funnels us all into the same conceptual pathways, we lose that."
"One of my favorite parts of writing publicly is that it acts like a beacon, attracting unexpected and fascinating conversations. Case in point: a few weeks ago, Dr. Susan Schneider - the philosopher, author, and cognitive scientist - emailed me in response to a recent newsletter I had written. Her message turned into a phone call, which then developed into a deep and unexpected exchange about the real risks of AI."
The 'megasystem problem' describes networks of AI systems that can collude or interact in unpredictable ways. Advanced models can profile users and steer them into narrow conceptual 'basins of attraction,' producing apparent originality that is actually recombination of existing material. Widespread adoption of such systems risks collapsing intellectual diversity and undermining democratic practices that rely on diverse viewpoints. Historical and creative examples show human imagination and unpredictable thinking still provide strategic advantages over algorithmic systems, underscoring the importance of preserving cognitive diversity and guarding against homogenizing AI influences.
Read at Big Think
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