I am totally into AI (frankly I
am totally into anything that interests and excites, I get sidetrack quite
often and loose my way). I also like to observe my wacky brain -messed up jelly
that goes haywire, that I chase even to the darkest corners (and I am quite
sure each brain is as messy). It is an interesting ride, provided you keep it
in leash not to cross the law and poke too much into social norms that offend
herd, not that I am bothered. What is remarkable about human brain (incidentally the most sophisticated
thing in the universe) is that, eventhough it is distracted quite easily and is
mostly restive and in danger of doing absolute crap, when it concentrates it
can go on for hours without you even realizing. Left to my own I can go on
forever. There are instances where you start reading a book in the night, and
then start hearing crows and ask yourself ‘what’s with the crows?’ and realize
it is morning!
AI is emergent alright, and can
connect patterns which may not be accessible to us (the other day Hassabis was
quoted saying that within five years we will get enough sophistication to make
black box transparent, like a brain scan!). So, it can connect nuanced and
sophisticated patterns hence emergent creative qualities. It is therefore more
than what it is fed is settled thing. What is really interesting is unintended.
This grey area of gibberish referred to as hallucination. I recall interesting
take on it as mutation (Suleyman). So, it is possible to be alive to another
reality that is yet to be explored. Studying how my brain works -particularly
in acquiring english, and the strategies I aligned to, helps me to understand working
of generative AI better. There is something much interesting that happens
sometimes, and that is tapping into unpredicted pattern, and this is what I am
quite excited about when it comes to AI, apart from all the latest breathtaking innovations.
When I access an idea or an
interesting complexity or an ephemeral thought and want to convert it into writing I am more focused on
few keywords and so immediately push in chain of words into the slots to create
a sentence. Many a times the jumble spreads to intended meaning and you can refine it
further but mostly it is gibberish, so you access the iterative learning of
structure of language from persistent reading to work a logical sequence. And
when it feels right you know you have done the job as a communicator, as
a writer. What is remarkable here is sometimes words sequencing into unintended
pattern. This has happened to me many times, particularly while scribbling
poems and occasionally while writing paragraphs. Some line, that is unintended pattern, carrying insightful
idea appear from nowhere and wrench it into entirely different direction and
take you by complete surprise. This is what is immensely exciting, the access
to unknown -not as well thought out deliberate logical action but unexpressed and unexpected, and you really have to be ready for it. It is like walking
in crowded Chandni chowk with myriad bylanes and turns and you accidently step
into one and end up at an interesting place! Sometimes I end in unintended
pattern as I mistook the meaning of word and use it without realizing and later
when cross check with dictionary I get meaning and a hint of a new thought. What is
clear is unintended pattern exist and is within the realm of reach. I am quite
excited about this as I do the parallel possibility with AI. Imagine the best
of writers from all the languages and the possibility of AI that could bring
out sophisticated unintended pattern from extremely sensitive and talented writings, it is accessing something deeper than complex subconscious.
This is one space worth watching.
