AI is changing the world as we know it, and it's creating new risks every day. But the real danger isn't the machines, it's our brains. We have become accustomed to making decisions using shortcuts, biases, and opaque procedures. Just as finance exploits the weaknesses of the human mind, AI will also exploit our life patterns to manipulate us in irresistible and invisible ways. In the latest book "Circularity: How AI Affects Humans and How Humans Respond to AI", Jacob Ward of the United States reveals how we integrate these habits into decision-making techniques, how these decisions affect us, and how we can respond to them.
Artificial intelligence will change the world as we know it. But the real danger is not that some robot will enslave us, but our own brains. Our brains often use shortcuts, biases, and hidden processes to make decisions – and we're using the same methods to create technology that makes choices for us. Jacob Ward believes that the biggest threat to humans from artificial intelligence is not the counterattack of robots, but our brains are the most important factors to watch out for. When making decisions, the brain is influenced by biases, emotions, and other factors. And when we choose what information to feed to smart products, we often replicate these blind spots and fallacies together.
Human thinking is inherently cognitively biased, and behavior is also driven by various invisible external forces. In today's interplay between pattern recognition technology and guided decision-making, smart products help us write the script for all behaviors, and human choice is constrained as a result. Jacob Ward warns that not only will injustice become more serious, but human instinct for innovation and the ability to think will also be greatly degraded, which is what we should really worry about when facing smart technology.
Jacob Ward is a senior research fellow in behavioral science at Stanford University and a technology correspondent for NBC News, having previously worked as a technology correspondent for CNN, Al Jazeera and PBS. Ward is a former editor-in-chief of Popular Science magazine, and he also hosts the four-hour documentary series "Invade Your Brain" on PBS, which introduces television viewers to fundamental scientific discoveries about human decision-making and irrationality. "Circularity: How AI Affects Humans and How Humans Respond to AI" is his latest tech book on AI.
What is a cycle? The cognitive framework of the famous philosopher Popper's "three worlds" made a static division of the physical world, the mental world, and the intellectual world. Jacob Ward divides human cognition and behavior into three intertwined and mutually influencing cycles: the first and most central cycle, the human instinct that has been passed down from generation to generation. Humans are naturally biased and are more inclined to act using the brain's system1, and in the process, the pre-existing human biases are further reinforced and the first cycle is formed. The second cycle is from modern forces such as consumer technology, capitalism, marketing, and politics, which sample human behavior in the core cycle, summarize patterns, and then react those patterns to humans, ultimately raising a series of questions. The third cycle, as the title of the book referres, is the influence of artificial intelligence. AI samples human biases, summarizes patterns, and finally reacts these laws to humans, forming a third cycle. Jacob Ward's interpretation reflects a new trend of thought since Popper's intellectual demarcation 50 years ago. This tendency has two significant characteristics: one is to emphasize that human cognition and behavior are dynamically evolving, and the other is to emphasize the increasingly powerful ability of intelligent technology as an artificial object to shape life. This interpretation depicts a complex and intertwined picture of human existence from the perspective of dynamic cycles, and is undoubtedly a profound ideological insight and keen vigilance for navigating this ship of life that is interdependent between man and the universe.
Regarding the instincts and temperaments of life inherited by human beings for generations, this book uses the interpretation of the earth and other planets in the universe to make an intuitive interpretation: "Mars is adjacent to the Earth's orbit, and it is the most suitable planet for human life in the solar system except for the Earth. But that doesn't mean anything. Admittedly, the environment on other planets is even worse. In the case of Jupiter, if a rocket passes through a 30-mile-thick cloud layer on Jupiter's surface, the thrust of the rocket engine goes up and down in a large amount of flammable hydrogen and helium, and then the rocket reaches the same liquid layer about 13,000 miles below the clouds (the existence of which leaves us in the dark and we don't even know what lies beneath this toxic liquid ocean), the engine fails completely. The astronauts drowned (and could have burned to death) before they even left the spacecraft, a situation that would be unthinkable on Earth. Mars is relatively habitable. There is a stable foothold on Mars. It might feel good to have a great day on Mars. The sun is high in the sky and the temperature is around a pleasant 68°F, like a sunny afternoon in San Francisco or Johannesburg in August. But if you happen to be off the planet at night on the pole of Mars, the temperature may drop below -200°F, a temperature that will freeze you to death instantly, and your limbs will freeze like breakable branches, which can be smashed with a hammer. Let's not forget that even in the most comfortable areas of Mars, there is no air to breathe, so you can't go far even on the most pleasant days. In a low-gravity environment, you can only move within 50 yards of the spacecraft, otherwise you won't be able to hold your breath, and the lack of oxygen will disorient you and you won't be able to return to the spacecraft to take oxygen. You will lose consciousness, your body will twitch, your heart will stop beating, and red dust will slowly drift down next to your corpse. That's why scientists and journalists alike are so interested in exoplanets, which seem to have atmospheres and surfaces suitable for human life. Over the past few years, the now-retired Kepler space telescope has given rise to a constant stream of optimistic fantasies. The Kepler Space Telescope can't really see things in far space, and exoplanets are too far away to take clear images of them, so it observes the bends of light from distant stars as they pass next to them. Astrophysicists can calculate not only the size of a planet but also how far it is from a light source, which means that we can speculate about the existence of some kind of atmosphere around a planet based on the relationship between the planet's size and the distance between the planet and the star. ”
Huang Tiejun, president of the Beijing Academy of Artificial Intelligence, said that the role that AI currently plays in our lives and will continue to do for many years will accelerate its development. But what is AI? Will it really get us into trouble? Jacob Ward, combining a decade of cutting-edge research in artificial intelligence and behavioral science, warns us that AI is about to amplify our most primitive side and use algorithmic recommendation and pattern recognition to trap us in a cycle of "fewer and fewer choices." As the tech industry begins to write flawed human habits into artificial intelligence, this book calls on us to take a clearer look at ourselves. Xu Jin, the founder of the Economist Reading Club and the manager of the official account econhomo, commented that when technology is advancing by leaps and bounds, many people are thinking about what AI can do, and this book thinks about what can't be done. Technology has brought humanity to a crossroads of destiny, and for the first time we may have the possibility of changing the path of evolution, but the question is whether we have the capacity to endure the consequences? The author points out that human nature depends on shortcuts and is full of prejudices, and these characteristics are reinforced by different patterns, which ultimately react on us. Being aware of these limitations can help us better understand the changes in the AI era and make more advantageous choices.
"The truth about AI revealed in this book is both frightening and educational for us to apply AI. Combining a wealth of behavioral science research on the human mind, Ward brings together scientific knowledge from multiple fields to analyze how AI developers use our own biases to peddle their products, which is an interesting, unique look at AI and its prospects and drawbacks. Hao Jingfang, founder of Tongxing Academy, said. In addition, Chen Qiufan, a science fiction writer and deputy director of the Science Fiction Literature Committee of the China Writers Association, said that the development of artificial intelligence has enabled it to find extremely detailed patterns in human activities and choices, and has also enabled enterprises to benefit from AI's ability to predict behavior, with almost unlimited control over human decision-making functions. Considering the pros and cons, the author argues that we must be vigilant about AI and be aware of the dangers of "getting bogged down". The scope of information covered in this book is so extensive that it should be read by anyone who dreams of a better world. (Reader Daily all-media reporter He Jian)