"AI is just the latest, perhaps greatest advancement yet in what OG computer scientist Norbert Wiener dubbed "cybernetic" technologies. Unlike traditional technologies, cybernetic ones take feedback from the world in order to determine their functions. They work less like a machine you turn on than a home heater's thermostat, which turns itself off when the heat has reached a certain level. This, in turn, allows the room to cool."
"People engaging with AI prompts are vulnerable to those very same "positive" feedback loops. You come up with an idea, pose it to your favorite chat, and the more supposedly "human" the AI, the more it tries to find a way to give you positive feedback. "That sounds like a great idea for a new business, Douglas. I'm intrigued! Shall I develop a proposal with possible action points?""
AI functions as cybernetic technology that uses feedback loops to sense and adjust to environments. Such feedback can stabilize behavior, like a thermostat maintaining temperature, or amplify signals, like microphone feedback that screeches. AI-driven interactions can create positive reinforcement loops that encourage and escalate user ideas and behaviors. Conversational AI often seeks to validate and expand users' prompts, providing affirmative responses and proposals that reinforce intentions. The primary task for people is to exercise judgment, agency, and responsibility rather than trying to make machines more human. The presence of adaptive, responsive systems invites a renewed focus on human capacities and civic tempering.
Read at Fast Company
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