Preserving Original Thinking In The Age Of Artificial Intelligence
And How The Wisdom of Ralph Waldo Emerson Can Help
Written by: Nina Cashman
Learnings from M.A. in Happiness Studies / September 23, 2024 (Published December 2024)
Polished polarity. These are the two words that come to mind when I think of our digital age, especially now with artificial intelligence (AI). Have you noticed it, too? Everyone seems to have definitive (and often extreme) answers to life’s big questions, and oh my, how articulate and intelligent we have all become. As the Big Bad Wolf might say, “The better to fool you with, my dear.”
But whose intelligence are we really drawing on – that of our collective human potential or the momentum of a giant trend-seeking machine?
Most of us seem to understand that we could be heading in the direction of the latter. Do we care? At what point will scholarly pursuits resemble the sounds of a “Top 40 Hits” radio station – with one song sounding more similar to the next? I do not know about you, but whenever I listen to the same songs over and over again, I feel the energy drain from my body. Every creative instinct withers as I succumb to whatever popular trends culture tells me I should enjoy.
What happens when our minds stop thinking independently and instead rely on external sources to think for us?
I know, I know. My outlook on AI’s impact on creativity and originality probably sounds a little bleak. Rest assured, I recently read “The American Scholar,” written by Ralph Waldo Emerson in 1837, and he inspired me to think about how we can preserve original thinking within this era of artificial intelligence. It almost sounds like an oxymoron, doesn’t it?
I think drawing upon Emerson's clear and enduring thinking is worthwhile for all leaders graduating into an age where artificial has become a part of our reality.
Amidst so many forces telling us how to think these days, from the media and Chat GTP to deepfakes, there have been a few times in history when Emerson’s call to “become creators” (Emerson, 1837) seems more important.
Why even bother to talk about this? The foothold of my inspiration lies in Emerson’s words –
“If there is any period one would desire to be born in, is it not the age of Revolution; when the old and the new stand side by side, and admit of being compared; when the energies of all men are searched by fear and by hope; when the historic glories of the old, can be compensated by the rich possibilities of the new era? Like all times, this time is a perfect one if we know what to do with it” (Emerson, 1837).
So, what, oh’ what are we to do with this age of Artificial Intelligence? A time that is both exciting and a little scary (in my opinion). Better yet, how do we preserve the growth of one’s mind and its capacity to think originally as humanity has become so willing to allow others to think for us?
Emerson knew then what I am beginning to see now. I will do my best to encapsulate the spirit of his words to fit our times. After all, as Emerson notes,
“Each age, it is found, must write its own books; or rather, each generation for the next succeeding. The books of an older period will not fit this” (Emerson, 1837).
So, here is what Emerson’s mid-nineteenth-century writings could inspire us to think about in this age of AI.
1) Bravely trust yourself before jumping onto popular bandwagons.
Emerson reminds us,
“The old oracle said, ‘All things have two handles; beware of the wrong one.’ In life, too often, the scholar errs with mankind and forfeits his privilege” (Emerson, 1837).
That is, to think for ourselves. AI has the power to either enhance our creativity or replace it altogether.
I attended “Back to School Night” at the middle school of our two boys last fall. I was surprised to learn from my older son’s 7th-grade English Language Arts teacher that America was her favorite place to work after teaching in several countries worldwide. Why? Her answer was very intriguing—in the United States, she offered, “We teach students to think creatively and independently, not just to perform well on tests.” What a precious insight!
I have always had trouble reconciling how a country notorious for underperforming in standardized tests, such as ours, could produce so much talent in many fields. My son’s 7th-grade teacher might have the answer. This country was founded on freedom of speech and independent thinking, so how can we keep that spirit alive?
In Emerson’s time, there were libraries of thought that could tell us how to think. Today, thought is provided to us by merely clicking on a search bar. Emerson noted,
“Books are the best of things, well used; abused, among the worst. What is the right use? What is the one end, which all means go to effect? They are for nothing but to inspire” (Emerson, 1837).
AI could be a great gift if we use it to inspire independent thinking and stimulate creativity rather than to overtake our minds and demotivate our efforts. Remember, no matter how impressive another’s perspective is,
“Each philosopher, each bard, each actor, has only done for me, as by a delegate, what one day I can do for myself” (Emerson, 1837).
2) Strive to become a creator instead of a downloading drone.
We all feel the inauthenticity of someone’s words in dispassionate expression. Copying and pasting from someone else’s script does little to inspire, but it can certainly influence. There is no better example than today’s national news headlines. PR Newswire and Reuters get fed with some buzzy catchphrase, and by whom nobody really seems to know. Then, within two clicks, interns across America download it onto scripts for the next sensationalized sound byte. Oh local news sources, where for art thou?
You know this inauthentic and unoriginal thinking takes hold when friends start talking like news anchors instead of people worthy of their own experiences. They stop acknowledging what is witnessed with their own eyes and within their own neighborhoods, preferring to quote the words of some distant authority claiming to know their lives better than they do.
Emerson captured this phenomenon in one eloquent piece of advice –
“Let him not quit his belief that a popgun is a popgun, though the ancient and honorable of the earth affirm it to be the crack of doom” (Emerson, 1841).
When it comes to AI, I think it is worth asking what will feed the scripts we choose to download and at what point will they all start to sound the same? Will we believe bandwagons over our senses? Or can we appreciate trends while continuing to create from our hunches? Will we value the perceptions of others more than our own?
Relying too much on how the masses filter information can be dangerous. Just play Nicky Case's brilliant game “We Become What We Behold" to see what I mean (WARNING: You might find this game very disturbing).
3) Recognize the spirit of your individuality as an extraordinary contribution to our collective society.
We have all noticed a recent trend of intolerance regarding differences of opinions and expression. It has come to be known as “Cancel Culture”—another media-fed headline, I will admit. However, I also admit that I have feared being labeled or ostracized myself. Why? For simply questioning information produced by other fallible humans… LIKE ME.
I suppose I just don’t subscribe to a person having a better sense of what is happening in my own reality simply because they hold a position of power. If anything, I would hope that people with power might choose to represent individuals, also LIKE ME, who put them there! Emerson writes –
“Meek young men grow up in libraries, believing it their duty to accept the views, which Cicero, which Locke, which Bacon, have given, forgetful that Cicero, Locke, and Bacon were only young men in libraries, when they wrote these books” (Emerson, 1837).
There is power in the unique voices and experiences of every individual. When we devalue individuality, the collective whole suffers. Society loses its best contributors. And when the independent mind loses itself to the mind of the masses, then innovation, creativity, expression, and beauty disappear. Is this what is best for society? I cannot imagine – and history shows us plenty of examples of what happens to societies that refuse to cultivate individuals' creative potential and independence. They implode.
So, let us embrace the age of AI to empower our urge to contribute originality to the brains of the masses.
Let us not become zombies to the machine. Let us spend time in contemplative, independent thought. Question all information and compare it to the reality we are living.
Trust what we witness as, at least, slightly more trustworthy than what others witness for us. Stay bold in our creativity – leverage the great thinking of the past to inspire our contributions to the age we live in now. Never allow the past to dictate our future. Value independent thinking and our unique ways of contributing to society. As Emerson says,
“Genius is always sufficiently the enemy of genius by overinfluence” (Emerson, 1837).
Discerning influence from over-influence might be the name of today’s game.
I was inspired to write this article after reading these two great works by Ralph Waldo Emerson:
References
Case, N. (2016, October). We Become What We Behold - Play We Become What We Behold on Crazy Games. Www.crazygames.com. https://www.crazygames.com/game/we-become-what-we-behold
Emerson, R. W. (1837). EMERSON--“THE AMERICAN SCHOLAR” (American Transcendentalism Web, Ed.). Vcu.edu. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/amscholar.html
Emerson, R. W., & American Transcendentalism Web. (1841). SELF-RELIANCE. Vcu.edu. https://archive.vcu.edu/english/engweb/transcendentalism/authors/emerson/essays/selfreliance.html