Mind Blend Cafe Opens Its “Doors” Yet Again! 🪴

The past couple of years have been difficult. Mind Blend Cafe, my digital garden cafe has run a thread through my mind. I knew I would be able to return to it but didn’t know when. I won’t make a big hubbub about it but it’s currently almost 4am on Halloween, I’m meant to run a 5k in about 5 hours off of two hours of sleep. So naturally, I decided to listen to a talk on AI. I’d spotted this talk in my former library’s newsletter as one that was coming up and immediately signed up. Dartmouth Dialogues “The program brought the community together for a thoughtful conversation about the opportunities and challenges presented by the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence featuring Sal Khan, founder of Khan Academy and journalist Jacob Ward.” - Dartmouth Dialogues: Artificial Intelligence with Sal Khan I ended up getting sick and couldn’t attend in person which I was so disappointed about but I’m so glad I finally got around to listening to the conversation.

At 3am, I was hoping to listen to something that would be interesting enough that wouldn’t leave me wanting to tear my AirPods out of my ear but would still allow me to fall into deep sleep. This conversation did not have this effect on me. In fact, instead of quieting my mind, the dialogue on the promise and perils of AI totally opened my brain floodgates. Sal Khan particularly holds a dear space in my heart after saving me in high school with all his YouTube videos. I have the utmost respect for him and he was a major factor in me becoming a cognitive scientist. I chose my undergraduate program with the hope of working in educational technology to contribute to students’ supportive learning experience with the power of emerging technologies. Now, that wasn’t quite my career path… but it was very interesting and honestly refreshing to hear about the ways he’s been leveraging AI to build something like Khanmigo. 

I had not heard of Jacob Ward but now I am glad I know who he is. He brought up an idea that I had in the back of my head but never truly thought deeply about which is many of the risks from AI stem from innovation occurring as a result of market pressure. He repeatedly brought up how the incentives major AI entities have are financial and why the benefits and the “better world” that are promised are far out. It makes a ton of sense and I know the market is heavily riding on the AI bubble but what does that actually mean? Jacob mentioned about 50% of VC funding went towards AI. That’s a lot of pressure to demand financial returns on the investment in technology. That means AI used to build intelligent weapons or outsourcing call center jobs is prioritized a lot more than building personalized tutors in low income districts. It’s all about the moneyyyyy. I also thought it was intriguing they described the doomerism and existential threat marketing ploy that may be used to support the narrative of all-powerful AI. I don’t know what’s true here and honestly it might bum me out too much to think about that so I will pause on that thread for now. 

Jacob brought up Nita Farahany, who writes a Substack I started following when I took up my job in AI Governance. I appreciate her posts and should honestly prioritize reviewing and understanding them. He highlighted her work and her book The Battle for Your Brain introducing the concept of Cognitive Liberty. 

Here’s where I get really excited. Cognitive Liberty. Wow. Do I just love that concept because it has the word “cognitive” in it? Maybe. 

Here’s another concept I heard a couple months ago: Cognitive Surrender. 

Another one. Decision Support UX. 

I could go on and on and on. And you know what - I will! I am inspired to return to this space and follow the connections I see between Cognitive Science and the impact of AI. These concepts light me up because they’re centered on the human experience in relationship with a technology like AI. Mind you, I went to grad school and learned the basics of machine learning (MATH!!) So it blows my mind to think about how all this math and energy are powering technology that will and already is disrupting the human experience. 

Thematic questions I am interested in exploring: 

• What is the impact of AI on mental health?
• What is the impact of AI on education? 
• How can AI be designed in such a way to support responsible use?

In essence, I am most interested in the impact of AI on the human mind and the impact of the mind with use of AI.

So here we are. Thanks for reading and I hope you’ll join me in my pursuit of these questions!