The Essential Significant Question of Modern Time: Rise of AI

-- By NishuAfobunor - 23 Oct 2024

Curiosity that is Insatiable, Innovative and Inspiring.

In October 2024, humanity continues to grapple with profound questions about existence that have echoed through generations. There are obviously those big, timeless, metaphysical mysteries that we have carried across generations, which have lasted with us since the inception of the world. These questions ask: Why do we exist? What is the meaning of life? Where do we go when we die? Scientists, theologians, politicians, and professors have all deliberated and debated these issues, while countless thinkers have offered their theories, each striving to make sense of a world that constantly stirs our curiosity. Though, we will probably never be able to answer these questions with 100% certainty.

However, there are pressing questions emerging in our society that we can answer—questions that directly impact our daily lives and lie within our control. How we choose to address these issues will not only shape our immediate futures but also influence the wellbeing of society and future generations for years to come.

And mind you, the failure to answer these big metaphysical questions is not representative of humanity’s weakness. As Socrates once said, true wisdom lies in knowing we know nothing. If we embrace this paradox, then in our very ignorance, we uncover a deeper truth: that our awareness of knowing nothing reveals something profound. It shows that we are innately driven to seek knowledge, propelled by an insatiable curiosity. This acknowledgment of our own limits is not a weakness—it’s what fuels our greatest strength. We are beings defined by our relentless quest for understanding, precisely because we know there is always more to learn. In the vast unknown, we find the spark that drives us forward. It is indeed our persistence to find answers that highlights this embrace for knowledge and innovation.

Columbia’s motto, “in lumine tuo videbimus lumen” reflects this fact. This phrase reflects a commitment to the pursuit of knowledge and truth. It encapsulates the idea that knowledge is not simply something that we are born with but rather a deep product of human effort. It is something we must work towards. Our desire to seek knowledge is a core trait of what makes us human, and simultaneously, what will always give us hope.

This innate drive for understanding is what has fueled the greatest periods of humanity’s journey on this earth. And we need look no further than during the 16th and 17th Century to examine how this thirst for knowledge shaped the world. The Scientific Revolution, in particular, marked a profound transformation in human history, driven by humanity’s insatiable pursuit of knowledge. It was a time when curiosity broke free from the constraints of dogma, and reason dared to challenge centuries of tradition. As scholars gazed into the heavens and peered through microscopes, they unlocked secrets of the universe that had once seemed unattainable. This relentless quest for understanding, guided by the belief that truth could be found through observation and experimentation, reshaped how we see the world—and ourselves. The world that once seemed infinite and unknowable became a canvas for invention. Gravity was no longer a mystery, but a force to be harnessed. The steam engine ignited the Industrial Revolution, powering the modern world, while the mastery of electricity illuminated our cities and connected the globe. Medicine advanced with the discovery of vaccines, saving countless lives. We took to the skies, crossed oceans, and even reached for the stars. It was a time of wonder and ambition, where each invention and achievement seemed to whisper that perhaps nothing was beyond our grasp. It was a turning point where wonder and discovery became the forces that propelled us toward a future of possibility. It also inspired future generations of the possibilities that could be.

And it is why we persist to this day, evermore so seeking this knowledge. It is because we have seen our desires for answers bear everlasting fruit. It is because we know what can be when we commit ourselves to pushing the limitless boundaries of innovation.

So we should be hopeful of the fruits that can be ripened by our passion for knowledge. It is why what we do matters. We must be hopeful that, in time, we WILL find the answers to these questions.

Identifying the Question: Issue of AI

With this ray of hope in mind, we now turn to one of the most pressing issues of our time: the rise of artificial intelligence.

These important questions that we should feel inspired to address are: Is AI simply a tool to enhance our abilities, or does it threaten to replace us entirely? More importantly, how does AI fit into our ongoing pursuit of knowledge and truth? While it offers incredible potential for discovery, we must also confront the darker side of its power—the way it can distort facts and twist reality and even offer a flawed perception of knowledge (Chomsky, 2023). As we face this new frontier, the question remains: will AI serve as a partner in our quest for understanding, or will it lead us further from the truth we seek?

There's nothing here. The draft is supposedly about "artificial intelligence," but it takes 700 words to get to the first mention of AI, and the three sentences that follow are substanceless. The only source said to be relied upon is the Chomsky and Wateamull op-ed I assigned, but there is no contact with its actual ideas. The bulk of the draft is chatbot output or an excellent imitation of bot writing: sentence upon sentence of abstract rhetoric, without any basis in something read or something learned. If "knowledge is not simply something that we are born with but rather a deep product of human effort," what was the effort here?

Let's try doing it ourselves, without the bots. Let's find your basic idea: something we can put in a sentence asking an actual question, not "why are we put on earth?" or "what happens to us after death?" but an inquiry to which it is possible using the tools of law school to establish or learn towards an answer. Let's identify the reading that will help to complete the writing, and produce a detailed outline. Then let's write the text ourselves, without machine-generated syllabic filler, in a sequence of simple, economical sentences. The paragraphs should develop the idea initially stated, show how you came by it through the reading you did, considering what you regard as the most important objections or counter-arguments you encountered in the course of your thinking, and presenting a conclusion from which the reader can take the consequences of your idea further for herself. We have, fortunately, almost unlimited room for improvement. The one office-hour conversation we had was limited to the mechanics of wiki usage; perhaps we should have used that time differently and should now try again.

Sources: https://www.nytimes.com/2023/03/08/opinion/noam-chomsky-chatgpt-ai.html

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