Freedom and Urgency
Humanity stands at a crossroads.
The recent breakthrough in artificial intelligence, specifically Large Language Models (LLM) trained on sufficiently large and curated datasets, has enabled natural conversation between humans and computers. Moreover, since they are trained with datasets that encapsulates human knowledge, LLMs also have access to an expansive array of information across various fields. With this breakthrough and the pace of innovation that is ongoing, people are now speculating whether the emergence of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI)1 is imminent.
With AGI looming on the horizon, there are more question marks now than ever on how humans are going to live their life in the future. OpenAI, one of the prominent institutions that produces such LLMs and aiming for achieving AGI have published their paper about the impact of current generation LLMs on the labor market. The findings mentioned that 80% of workers in the U.S. workforce may have 10% of their work tasks affected and 19% may see at least 50% of theirs tasks impacted. These numbers are substantial and it’s important to remember that the capabilities and implementations of current LLMs will only continue to improve over time.
Having spent my career in tech companies and especially since my last role was all about automation and productivity, I’ve always been fascinated with softwares or devices that can enhance human productivity. The above developments serve as an additional catalyst for my further exploration, hence this newsletter was born. However, I need to clarify that my plan is not solely to discuss artificial intelligence, but it can also be other kind of automation in general—be it a simple computer program, a no-code SaaS platform or even a mechanical apparatus.
So that was the first trigger for me to start this newsletter—the potential impact of a technological breakthrough. And now I want to share the 2nd reason and that is about technology distribution.
Let me explain more.
I just recently resigned from my position at a large-scale, multinational tech startup to take a break and one of the activities that I’m doing nowadays is helping a Small and Midsize Enterprise (SME) in managing their business. I was quite taken aback by the manual processes that the SME is following. Just by adopting collaborative office suites, some SaaS and no-code platforms already improved their productivity substantially. We haven’t even bring LLMs into picture.
This chart and statement from OECD (Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development) also aligned with my experience:
“The problem is the pace at which innovations spread throughout the economy, which we refer to as a breakdown of the diffusion machine. To relaunch productivity and reduce inequality, governments should act to help firms to better harness the forces of knowledge diffusion. They also need to focus on skills development and facilitate a more effective allocation of human talent to jobs,” (OECD Secretary General Angel Gurría)
This means tech companies exist in a bubble when it comes to technology adoption, making technology distribution a first-class problem. And any kind of breakthrough will require some time before it will be adopted en masse. Therefore, I'm also interested in studying more about the disparity and seeing where the current gaps are.
Okay, so far I have talked about the “Why” but I haven’t touched the title of this newsletter. The 2 words mentioned in the title actually correlates with the “better life” premise in this newsletter description and will serve as a guide post for future articles. Let’s discuss more about it now.
A Better Life
“Making humanity life 1000x better” is such a lofty catchphrase that triggers the impostor syndrome in me, which initially makes me want to read as many philosophical books and references as I can before writing a single sentence.
It’s not a completely original sentence, of course. I was inspired after reading this tweet from Eric Jang. In the end, I decided to keep it and just throw whatever understanding that I have right now and accept the fact that I’ll never be able to write a perfect introductory article. To course-correct, as I gain new insights and knowledge from this exploration, I will create a new article over time to revise my understanding (hence a journal).
For many (most?) people, the first thing that comes to mind when hearing the word “better life” is probably the life of a multimillionaire professional, business owner, artist or athlete. They have the money to practically go anywhere, the skills to contribute to society and the acknowledgement to be accepted in most circles. In short, what they have is an “abundance” of resources and capabilities.
Our mind has been conditioned by society that “abundance is good” and that mindset probably becomes even more prevalent today thanks to social media. Now the question becomes, while it is probably correct that abundance is good for those who wield it, is it a hard requirement to achieve a better life? If everyone desires to achieve abundance can everyone get a better life? Considering that resources and opportunities are finite.
Rather than abundance, I’m thinking we should actually strive for freedom as a proxy goal for a better life. It might be a better goal too, because striving for abundance (without limit) of one resource might lead to deficiency in another. For example, consider a musician that is very successful and at the peak of their career. Undoubtedly they will have a lot of money and a large group of people who will want to befriend them and be in their circle. However, they may have less free time and must adhere to a strict schedule. And when they are finally able to retire, their health might never be the same as when they’re younger, which restricts them from doing certain things.
Now if we strive for freedom instead, we should aim for “just enough” resources and capabilities to do certain things. For example, rather than seeking an enormous amount of money, we should plan to have just enough money to live our life and do things that we want. Of course this needs more thinking and planning, since we need to know exactly what we want. We’ll discuss this more when we talk about “urgency”.
Following on, there are at least 5 distinct resources or capabilities that I have identified, which needs to be addressed when talking about freedom. Following are the list and explanation for each:
Time - Need no explanation, a strictly non-renewable resource
Health - Our health condition (both body and mind)
Financial - Our financial prowess (including cash, cash equivalent and leverage)
Capability - Expertise and/or experience which allows us to do specific actions
Access - Ability to access certain location, organization or people
Freedom means we have the flexibility at our disposal to deploy the resources or capabilities at will. I tried to make the list above as generic as possible to make it relatable for everyone, however there might still be other distinct resources or capabilities that can be added. Feel free to let me know your thoughts in the comments.
The Issues with Having Freedom as a Goal
There are still some issues with having freedom as a goal.
First, if our plan is to achieve freedom just for the sake of freedom, this implies we desire freedom in abundance. This means we are going back to the initial problem that abundance is not an ideal target to strive for. The other issue arises when we strive for freedom without any specific aim. There may come a time when boredom sets in, leading to a loss of motivation to do anything.
Freedom on its own can be directionless, even overwhelming. It's like standing in the center of a vast open field, unsure of which way to go. This is where urgency comes in. Urgency is our compass in that field. It directs our actions, drives our progress, and gives us a sense of purpose.
Urgency here signifies an internal drive within us to do or achieve specific things. While the term “motivation” could also work, I prefer “urgency” as it implies additional constraints, especially time-related, and complements “freedom” more effectively.
There are still other issues to consider, such as a possibility that one person’s idea of freedom might disturb or restrict another person’s freedom. For the time being, I suggest that if our objective runs the risk of disturbing or restricting other people's freedom, we should modify or adjust our goal. I may revisit this topic once I have gained more understanding.
Tying Everything Together
“Okay Gio, I have read everything that you have written so far, but I still don’t get it. What does all of this have to do with automation?”
Because automation is probably one of the most effective leverages for humans to achieve freedom.
Even without fancy LLMs or any of the emerging technology, humans have historically tried and succeeded in building computer programs or mechanical devices to help them with their tasks and subsequently improve their productivity. In theory, improving productivity should help free some time for human to do something else. Although in reality it’s more complicated than that, but that’s another topic entirely.
In this newsletter, my plan is to explore both the technological aspect of automation and also its social implications. We'll look at how automation shapes our relationship with work and leisure, influences economic structures, and impacts our sense of self and community. In understanding these dynamics, we might gain insights on how to better design and implement automation in a way that truly enhances human freedom, as opposed to creating new forms of dependence or inequality.
And that’s it for now!
I would like to know your thoughts too, feel free to share your suggestions and comments.
For those who are not aware, AGI is a hypothetical entity that can intellectually do anything that humans can do, if not more.
Throughout history, humans have demonstrated a natural inclination to delegate tasks and responsibilities. This practice has enabled us to enhance efficiency and productivity, and it remains an integral part of human nature. As technology advances, it is now possible to delegate those tasks to a bare chunk of metal instead of a living human being.
Although it is going to be harsh to say that it is good for the society because surely it will remove many jobs, but at least with machine we could just pressure a bare metal instead of a living human being with a beautiful soul. From this point of time, humans will be required to befriend technology as part of their life with the reason they could do everything much faster than us. But remember, they could only do well in a specifically given order. Jobs that requires many manual labor and muscle would not be replaced easily, such as building a home, installing electronics appliance, etc. Also jobs that required human affections such as teachers, nurse, and doctors would never ever be replaced.
While machines and AI can enhance productivity and efficiency, they cannot replicate the essence of human creativity. Human beings possess a unique capacity to create something from nothing. The journey of creation, the process of going from zero to one, encompasses the depth of human experiences and aspirations. As we delegate routine tasks to machines, we gain the freedom of time.
However, after all these things we discuss earlier, the bigger question still remains.
If we finally had our free time, what will we do with it? Is freedom itself could become the bare necessities required for us to be happy? Or the journey to achieve itself is already enough? The quest for meaning to resolve one of life biggest question will still be intact. But then again, any attempts to make the world a better place or to make people's life easier even in just the slightest manner should always be appreciated and hold into the highest regards.
TL;DR: The distinctions between goals/values, needs, and resources are essential, and freedom itself isn't value-agnostic. Economic value definitions could fundamentally change with the automation of human capital.
I think it's crucial to differentiate between inherent non-negotiable needs (the essentials required for survival) and purpose (arbitrary values or goals one wishes to achieve). Additionally, resources (imo) can be defined as necessary and/or sufficient means to approach these goals or values. While these concepts (needs, purpose, resources) are distinct, they're not mutually exclusive. In Indonesia, where I presume both of us reside, poverty, malnutrition, water scarcity, and limited internet access are pressing issues that deserve our attention. Furthermore, global financial inefficiencies and impending ecological collapse warrant our concern.
In my view, "time" alone isn't a resource; attention (not used for earning a living) might be a more fitting concept. Finances or money serve as **convergence instrumental goals** for almost any **terminal goal**. As instrumental goals, expertise, health, and access may can be gained through money. We can narrow down generic resources to money and attention. Assuming that we require 8 hours of free time and 10 million Rupiah per month (basic living cost in Indonesia) to pursue any arbitrary goal in life, up to this level, i think it's essential to determine our life's purpose rigorously.
Research suggests a strong correlation between life satisfaction and income per capita. However, when our needs are met, we might blindly follow our innate biological needs without restraint keep running in hedonic treadmill cause habituation and compare to other (https://journals.plos.org/ploscompbiol/article?id=10.1371/journal.pcbi.1010316). Addressing the problem of axiology in life is of utmost importance.
Regarding your concept of freedom, i guess it's difficult to bootstrap the notion of freedom and treat it as a value without a clear understanding of goals/values. it is like, Establishing an action space as a reward function along with a few hidden specific values/goals (in reinforcement learning). i don't think treating freedom as a "proxy goal for a better life" make problems any concreate.
It's also worth mentioning that the inevitable ecological collapse means that using LLMs to boost productivity isn't a standalone solution. like, single gpt-3.5-turbo response alone can cost 1000x than single google search. Even with access to the most advanced GPTs, the value of one's work or enterprise cannot exceed the market's upper limit unless market manipulation occurs. Moreover, the book **Bullshit Jobs** addresses the existence of jobs that add no value to the economy.
In my opinion, we live in fascinating times. All I need is decent internet access and basic living costs for the rest of my life. The climate crisis is a looming threat, and the earth is becoming greener due to trapped carbon for millions of years. We're living in an intriguing era, by any timescale of astronomy, geology, biology, and human history.
for me, the most worth goal to pursue is to understand my place in this universe and attempt to hack my reward function (see lebowski theorem). I see AI as a project to test how our minds truly function. There's nothing magical about the brain; we just need a few groundbreaking paradigms to develop systems similar to our minds. This is what I live for.