1: Marshall Mcluhan's Tetrad of Media Effects
The tetrad is a way of talking about any sort of media–print, photography, TV, AI, etc. I found it helpful to look at the radio example (which Wikipedia walks through):
Enhancement (figure): What the medium amplifies or intensifies. For example, radio amplifies news and music via sound.
Obsolescence (ground): What the medium drives out of prominence. Radio reduces the prominence of print and the visual.
Retrieval (figure): What the medium recovers which was previously lost. Radio returns the spoken word to the forefront.
Reversal (ground): What the medium does when pushed to its limits. Acoustic radio flips into audio-visual TV.
To take a stab with LLMs:
I think the Tetrad could be an interesting jumping off point for discussion. For instance:
do you agree with my framing? What would you say AI enhances/reverses/retrieves/obsolesces?
since it's my blog post let's take my framing as a starting point. Rank the four axes, which is the one that worries you most?
My Rankings of the Four Axes
Worst: Reverses into digital personhood. Even if you're on the LLMs-are-conscious train, they are not substitutes for people! And we already have a terrible track record or replacing human interaction with media.
Second Worst: Obsolesces traditional media + human jobs.
Third Worst: Amplifies existing consensus (I think this is a good concern to have, but frankly I think given how social media fragments and decentralizes, maybe the centralizing nature of a few models kind of hedges against that???).
4: Retrieves dialog (Though this, when intensified, turns into the thing that concerns me most!).
Get a group of people together, first 10 minutes everyone fills out this form & rank their own least-to-most worrying parts. Next 20 (or 50) minutes, in small groups you share out and compare.
Wouldn't that be more interesting than giggling over the funny things the computer says or arguing about HVAC?
2: Postman's 7 Questions
1: What is the problem that this new technology solves?
2: Whose problem is it?
3: What new problems do we create by solving this problem?
4: Which people and institutions will be most impacted by a technological solution?
5: What changes in language occur as the result of technological change?
6: Which shifts in economic and political power might result when this technology is adopted?
7: What alternative (and unintended) uses might be made of this technology?
People have already used the 7 Questions framework for AI.
I'm not going to walk thru it like I did for the Tetrad, but...I think it is good to remember just how far apart in geography, perspective, and income the people who are making this technology are from the people who's lives are being upturned by it.
3: Donella Meadows's Places to Intervene in a System
PLACES TO INTERVENE IN A SYSTEM
(in increasing order of effectiveness)
9. Constants, parameters, numbers (subsidies, taxes, standards).
8. Regulating negative feedback loops.
7. Driving positive feedback loops.
6. Material flows and nodes of material intersection.
5. Information flows.
4. The rules of the system (incentives, punishments, constraints).
3. The distribution of power over the rules of the system.
2. The goals of the system.
1. The mindset or paradigm out of which the system — its goals, power structure, rules, its culture — arises.
What are our goals?
Microsoft Copilot commercials (and similar products) seem to sell AI as a thing that will raise your status at work. Lots of texts from the boss followed by chart montages. You're replying to your boss instantly, but better.
How could we improve our paradigm?
Chat is a paradigm that reinforces thinking of AI as a person-like entity. How else could we organize things?
Thanks for reading! These Oldies but Goodies I think they are better jumping off points for discussion than things to write long blog posts about, so if any of this resonates with you we should chat! https://www.jakesimonds.com/chat afternoons east coast time I'm generally available.