Artificial Intelligence, post the ChatGPT buzz, evokes one of two responses. For many, it is ecstasy in finding the Holy Grail. For others, it evokes the fear of a dystopian world ruled by machines. Neither is true. Like it or not it’s here to stay.
A colleague raised AI to another level by asking, ‘Isn’t AI a form of collective consciousness? She was right. For the first time, we have a pathway to collective and collaborative awareness over time and space. This may not be accepted by all as the Collective Consciousness of the Vedic scriptures, defined as the primal creative energy that is not reachable, and not even perceivable. However, AI can be the collective consciousness of the human energy system, which is a scientific fact of Quantum Science; or even the collective unconscious articulated as Jungian archetypes.
The hypothesis that intelligent awareness can be shared across spaces has been scientifically established through simultaneous discoveries in different parts of the world. The theory of entanglement in Quantum Mechanics about connected intelligence is now used in scientific applications. These are sporadic incidents not seen on a mass scale. What ChatGPT has for the first time shown is the sharing of such intelligence on a mass scale, as something far more than the search function of Google and others. ChatGPT extracts and presents the information in a mode as intelligent as an average adult human, and often higher.
Is this as yet collective consciousness? I have no idea. No two persons can agree on what consciousness means. Is consciousness awareness or is it something more? Perhaps. What exactly is it? Your guess is as good as mine. However, if one were to describe collective consciousness, not as the unreachable, eternal, infinite and incomprehensible Brahman, but more as an achievable mass of intelligent awareness that integrates multiple viewpoints, then I do believe that AI is tending to collective consciousness. I asked ChatGPT to tell me how it can show that AI is collective consciousness. This is what she said.
According to social constructivism, knowledge is constructed through social interaction and communication. AI is a tool that enables people to collaborate and communicate more effectively, facilitating the sharing of knowledge and ideas.
Network theory suggests that complex systems, such as social networks or the internet, can exhibit emergent behaviours that cannot be predicted by studying individual components in isolation. As more and more machines become interconnected and share data, they will begin to exhibit collective behaviours that may not be fully understood by their human creators.
Collective intelligence is the idea that a group of individuals can collectively solve problems or make decisions that are more effective than any one individual could achieve alone. AI facilitates collective intelligence by processing and analysing large amounts of data to help groups make more informed decisions.
Transhumanism is a philosophical and cultural movement that aims to use technology to enhance human capabilities and transcend the limitations of the human body and mind. AI is a step towards a collective consciousness that transcends individual human minds.
Quantum mechanics says that particles can be entangled, or connected, in such a way that their properties become linked and dependent on one another, regardless of the distance between them. This theory has been applied to the idea of quantum computing, which could enable AI to process information and make decisions that are more complex and interconnected than traditional computing systems.
While the concept of a shared intelligence that emerges from the interactions between individuals and machines is still largely speculative, it is clear that AI has the potential to facilitate collaboration, enhance collective decision-making, and transcend the limitations of individual human minds in collective awareness and consciousness.
Did I or any of you readers know all this, or even thought of these? Unlikely. This is collective intelligence of what exists today, across the space of this earth till 2021. It is very likely that this intelligence will very soon become predictive, far more accurately than any futurist. It will be as close to collective consciousness as achievable in any sentient space.
