We have a natural tendency to try and win the rat race, so that we can leave it for good.
Exponential use of technology - particularly, LLMs - is emblematic of this modern approach to work.
Nevertheless, AI is not like the other tech. I think it genuinely has the potential to free us from this sense of constant “striving” for a future that we may never reach.
I’m not here to conjecture on how to reach some nirvana-like state, only share my experience… that is, peace of mind (for me) comes from removing - unclogging, defragging, and reducing noise.
I wrote yesterday about the benefit of having conversations with AI, rather than a one sided “I prompt - AI answer” framework.
The potential for virtual friends is no longer sci-fi — Zuck himself recently said that Meta would solve loneliness using AI:
There's the stat that I always think is crazy, the average American, I think, has fewer than three friends. And the average person has demand for meaningfully more, I think it's like 15 friends or something, right?
Whether this sounds dark or not is another argument. My point is this: like any good conversation with friends, it helps you see yourself - your thoughts, feelings, problems, hopes, dreams, etc - from different angles.
When we “talk to AI” like a friend, it will fill this role, and in doing so unwind the mental knots we typically find ourselves in.