We Need the Wisdom Of The Elders Not The Facts Of Artificial Intelligence

To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true,...


To you, O people, I call out; I raise my voice to all mankind. You who are simple, gain prudence; you who are foolish, set your hearts on it. Listen, for I have trustworthy things to say; I open my lips to speak what is right. My mouth speaks what is true,...
Life needs wisdom not artificial intelligence 


Life is complicated. To live a good life requires that we understand life. This understanding will not come from machines.

What must be and I emphasize must be remembered, is that machines only work with what you put into them. A machine is great for adding numbers, for finding quotes, for doing all sorts of interesting fact checks and analysis, but machines are no darn good for wisdom.

Wisdom has been defined as the ability to live well in a bad situation. A machine with artificial intelligence, a supercomputer, can add up all the little bits of information and come up with a suggestion. However, they have yet to make a machine, a supercomputer that can accurately predict the weather. Weather patterns and systems are simply way too complex for a machine to fully understand what's happening.

I dare say life is more complex than weather.

Throughout my life I have been privileged to know elders. Some were indigenous. Others were Anglo European. Still more were Asian. Different backgrounds, different education, different languages. However, each and every one had learned how to live well in a complicated world.

If we are going to survive global warming, we are going to need all the elders we can find. What the machines can't do, human wisdom can.

Brian.

Comments

Anonymous said…
a different definition of "wisdom" is ... the proper understanding and application of truth. Wisdom, as elusive as it is, can still be found. We just need to look in the right place. In the Psalm following the one you quote verse 10 states ... "The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom."
You offer a reasonable definition of wisdom. Will you allow me to offer a definition of 'the fear of God'? mysterium tremendum et fascinans—that is, a mystery before which humanity both trembles and is fascinated, is both repelled and attracted. (Rudolph Otto)