It's been a long time since I found someone capable of connecting dots that appear so far apart and making it obvious for everyone to understand. Wonderful post, Marcela!
Some months ago, in a philosophical conversation with friends, I suggested that AI is not only artificial intelligence, but also artificial ego—not in the sense of being egotistical, but as a language-limited entity.
We hope AI can think for itself and generate original ideas, but it can't be inspired, motivated, or encouraged by emotions and circumstances. AI's thoughts and reasoning are constrained, as far as I understand, by language and human knowledge.
A human ego—our personality—is similarly limited by experience and knowledge. We can't see our blind spots, we assume falsehoods, and take circumstances for granted. We react to fear and seek different forms of pleasure.
Your article powerfully illustrates what Watts warned about: when systems can't see themselves, they mistake their reflections for reality. The "skin-encapsulated ego" he described isn't just a human problem—we've now encoded that same hallucination into our institutions. AI and the human ego, human systems and policies, are all limited in the same fundamental ways. Yet we insist, at our own expense, on trusting metrics—from currency to KPIs—as if they represent absolute truths, confusing the menu with the meal.
The algorithm doesn't think it's God—but we've built systems that treat it as if it were.
I'm very glad that my earlier comment inspired this wonderful original creation of yours.
Thank you so much for your kind words, José! Your generosity is what led me to Alan Watts. Since I first met you through @elenacalvillo Advent calendar challenge, I’ve been able to see what a great person you are, and I know I’m going to learn so much more from you.
It is fascinating how AI works when you use it as a philosophical tool for contemplation. It is also intriguing to see how it can be dangerous, as it operates at the level of consciousness and awareness of the individual. It has demonstrated to me how many minds function and how easily they are satisfied with a particular outcome. It has provided a great deal of clarity about the world in which we live. < Not sure how to feel about that 😉
Wow, this is a fascinating angle to consider and a very timely reminder! We often forget that our training data is far from perfect (and so is the logic we used at the time), so any conclusions from AI, however validly sounding, need to be critically interrogated and not blindly followed.
Thank you, Marcela, for an intriguing perspective on this (and teaching me about Watts)!
"Here’s the cosmic joke: we built AI to eliminate human bias, and ended up encoding institutional ego at infinite scale."
Hm. I think the "joke" is that we built AI to make money, and we didn't much care that it learned on large language models FULL of human bias. Now the joke's on us, and it's not so funny. 😕💦
Intriguing post, thank you. I'm familiar with those wheels you can't get off! 😅
I really liked how you called out the quiet shift from tools to authorities. Once recommendations start shaping belief instead of choice, we stop interrogating outputs. Technically, that’s not an AI problem. It’s a governance problem. We’re treating probabilistic models like epistemic engines.
This is definitely gonna be my weekend read. Another Alan Watts fan/student here. A brilliant mind. How cool to see such interactions trigger such insightful piece. Thanks to you and Jose for making this happen.
It's been a long time since I found someone capable of connecting dots that appear so far apart and making it obvious for everyone to understand. Wonderful post, Marcela!
Some months ago, in a philosophical conversation with friends, I suggested that AI is not only artificial intelligence, but also artificial ego—not in the sense of being egotistical, but as a language-limited entity.
We hope AI can think for itself and generate original ideas, but it can't be inspired, motivated, or encouraged by emotions and circumstances. AI's thoughts and reasoning are constrained, as far as I understand, by language and human knowledge.
A human ego—our personality—is similarly limited by experience and knowledge. We can't see our blind spots, we assume falsehoods, and take circumstances for granted. We react to fear and seek different forms of pleasure.
Your article powerfully illustrates what Watts warned about: when systems can't see themselves, they mistake their reflections for reality. The "skin-encapsulated ego" he described isn't just a human problem—we've now encoded that same hallucination into our institutions. AI and the human ego, human systems and policies, are all limited in the same fundamental ways. Yet we insist, at our own expense, on trusting metrics—from currency to KPIs—as if they represent absolute truths, confusing the menu with the meal.
The algorithm doesn't think it's God—but we've built systems that treat it as if it were.
I'm very glad that my earlier comment inspired this wonderful original creation of yours.
Thank you so much for your kind words, José! Your generosity is what led me to Alan Watts. Since I first met you through @elenacalvillo Advent calendar challenge, I’ve been able to see what a great person you are, and I know I’m going to learn so much more from you.
Thank you for that, Marcela. That kind of kindness is what keeps my belief that what I'm trying to do here makes sense :)
It really makes sense Jose. Don’t doubt that
Jose - can I access the Notebook LM - I'm into this kinda stuff 🤞
I’m sure Jose will grant you acces! DM him
That was an interesting read!
Thanks for reading!
The enduring warning isn’t about intelligence, but authority. When systems are trusted outside their domain, errors become institutional. :)
Great post!
Thank you for engage Mandhir
It is fascinating how AI works when you use it as a philosophical tool for contemplation. It is also intriguing to see how it can be dangerous, as it operates at the level of consciousness and awareness of the individual. It has demonstrated to me how many minds function and how easily they are satisfied with a particular outcome. It has provided a great deal of clarity about the world in which we live. < Not sure how to feel about that 😉
Yes! You and me both Chantal
Wow, this is a fascinating angle to consider and a very timely reminder! We often forget that our training data is far from perfect (and so is the logic we used at the time), so any conclusions from AI, however validly sounding, need to be critically interrogated and not blindly followed.
Thank you, Marcela, for an intriguing perspective on this (and teaching me about Watts)!
Thanks Alena! Watts and his Zen view fascinates me. I need to research more about him
I just love someone using Alan Watts to analyze today. This is a very interesting piece. Thanks for sharing this.
Thanks Dennis. And I can’t understand why I haven’t heard of him till Jose!
"Here’s the cosmic joke: we built AI to eliminate human bias, and ended up encoding institutional ego at infinite scale."
Hm. I think the "joke" is that we built AI to make money, and we didn't much care that it learned on large language models FULL of human bias. Now the joke's on us, and it's not so funny. 😕💦
Intriguing post, thank you. I'm familiar with those wheels you can't get off! 😅
Thanks for engaging Mark, and yes, money rules the world, and we pay the price
I really liked how you called out the quiet shift from tools to authorities. Once recommendations start shaping belief instead of choice, we stop interrogating outputs. Technically, that’s not an AI problem. It’s a governance problem. We’re treating probabilistic models like epistemic engines.
Thanks for engaging Shweta. And you are absolutely right. Governance is becoming a more important problem than AI itself
A compelling synthesis of philosophy and AI that exposes how institutional bias quietly hardens into code
Thanks for reading Petar!
I want to go down the rabbit hole. So into this kind of stuff can I access the Notebook LM ?
Thank you for sharing!
Thanks for reading Brandan!
This is definitely gonna be my weekend read. Another Alan Watts fan/student here. A brilliant mind. How cool to see such interactions trigger such insightful piece. Thanks to you and Jose for making this happen.
Thanks to you Nihal! Alan Watts blew my mind!