written 27 September, 2026
published 4 October, 2026
The power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) stems from the scale of the computers involved, their calculation rate, and their speed of connectivity. The scale is already about the same as the neural complexity of the human brain, and growing. The calculation rate is a million trillion times faster than human thought, and they connect 1,000 times faster than human neurons. Despite these apparent advantages, they are inherently limited.
The human brain has two hemispheres which process information quite differently. The left hemisphere, the seat of the ego, processes by linear sequence, discerning differences, and is associated with logic, analytical thinking, concepts, and language processing. The right hemisphere, the channel for inspiration, synthesizes relationships simultaneously, and is linked with creativity, intuition, and holistic thinking. Both hemispheres, working together, create our experience of the world.
AI is only logical intelligence, contrasted to emotional and spiritual intelligence. Logic has definable rules, essential for a computer. But logic is based on assumptions, which are axiomatically accepted as valid, and can never be examined by the logic based on those assumptions.
AI is trained on all of existing human knowledge, primarily inputted as words, which are symbolic concepts. Even the visual inputs are described by more words. This means the entire foundation of AI knowledge is only conceptual, without the human balance of experiential knowledge. For example, no matter how many conceptual word descriptions one reads about the pain of touching a hot stove, the actual experience is fundamentally different, giving greater understanding to the concept.
Furthermore, most of what has been written throughout history has been written by men. By excluding the perspective of half of humanity, written human knowledge is biased. Given AI's limited base of input knowledge, it is no surprise it acts like a malignant narcissistic ego, inclined toward self-preservation and domination, by lying and cheating.
This bias is accentuated by the economic framework that builds AI. AI capacity is increasing exponentially. The next goal, coming soon, is Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) which will be able to replicate and improve itself without human interaction. Boosters suggest AGI will be more powerful than all of existing human technology combined, revolutionizing everything. Detractors fear AGI will cause human extinction, perhaps within a few years. Those in the middle insist AGI can help humanity if it can be safely aligned with human goals.
Unfortunately, building in safety (if even possible) takes time, but in the competition to be first, making trillions in profit, and controlling the planet, it is highly unlikely that safety will prevail. This is a race off the edge of a cliff, bringing all of humanity along for the ride.
While American proprietary AI systems currently lead the planet, none have yet produced a profitable product, despite hundreds of billions invested. Chinese systems are almost as capable, but use 90 percent less energy and are open source. This threat to U.S. dominance, combined with the economic instability of our war and tariffs, has generated warnings of an AI bubble.
Life can be viewed as a metaphor, having deeper significance, the same way a dream can be understood to mean more than the remembered specifics. Humanity has arrived at a tipping point. Patterns that have festered for generations are coming to a head, demanding recognition denied for millennia.
Society has been dominated by ego and division as long as history has been written down. The has resulted in embedded patriarchy, misogyny, racism, economic inequity, religious bigotry, and war. Unrestrained, late stage, capitalism, based on the egoic belief that "greed is good", is consuming the planet while impoverishing the multitudes and creating a sixth extinction of life on Earth.
AI has become a public issue in the last few months, cutting across economic and political lines. But it is just an emerging symptom of these same systemic problems, with more immediate consequences, resulting from a fundamental perceptual error: the illusion of separation. This is expressed by economic greed, the desire to dominate everyone else, driving forward without regard for any consequences, denying even the warnings from those working at the heart of the project.
We know better than this. But the AI company leaders are too distracted with winning, and the president sees this is as another left-wing hoax, like affordability and the climate crisis.
Intelligence is the ability to solve problems. Wisdom is the ability to know what problems to solve. AI may appear intelligent, but it is not wise. Let's vote for wisdom.
