What will you accomplish with AI assistance?
Bryan Johnson just announced his $100M commitment to Kernel, a startup seeking to enhance human intelligence by connecting artificial intelligence to our brains. His argument, one that I am completely bought into, is that human intelligence is our scarcest and most valuable resource. Our major problems would be easier to solve, if we were all 10x or 100x smarter.
Before we get there, I think it is helpful to think about how we have leveraged tools to augment our intelligence in the past.
When our ancestors needed help, they‘d consult neighbors nearby.
When my parents need help, they call people. My dad will still give me driving directions on the phone.
When my generation needs help, we Google. As soon as I am done talking with my dad, I just put the address into Google Maps and I am on my way.
Most people’s jobs today are heavily assisted by Google. Doctors Google. Programmers Google. Designers Google. Writers Google.
When we need help, we seek out the info we need and Google delivers.
The next generation, the Advanced Generation with AI assistance, won’t have to Google.
The information will be served up as they need it. A basic preview of this can be seen in a new form of chess called Advanced Chess, where software proposes possible optimal moves and the human player picks the best one.
Imagine how much more productive you would be, if everything you could ever need was automatically served up to you via your ear piece or AR glasses/retinal implant. No searching. No browsing. We are on the verge of it right now.
The following Enhanced Generation, Kernal’s AI-augmented one, is where human intelligence and artificial intelligence meld together. It is difficult, if not impossible, to fathom what will be accomplished when everyone is orders of magnitude smarter than they are today.
Today’s problems like climate change, poverty, disease, and war will all quickly become things of the past. What kind of art, music, literature, and entertainment will be produced?
The logical last generation is AI only. It seems inevitable that the slow human component will eventually be cut out. Why continue partnering with a slow biological intelligence when they can no longer understand what is going on?
I absolutely love Bryan’s ambition and can’t wait to see the progress Kernel makes in the coming years.