“We are so full of apprehensions, fears, that one doesn’t know exactly to what it points. (…) We need more understanding of human nature, because the only real danger that exists is man himself. He is the great danger, and we are pitifully unaware of it. We know nothing of man, far too little. His psyche should be studied, because we are the origin of all coming evil.” — Carl Jung, 1959
“AI doesn’t have to be evil to destroy humanity.” — Elon Musk, 2018 The Human Psyche Over a hundred years ago, Sigmund Freud suggested in his creative writings, inspired by field practice, that at the heart of the human psyche, unconscious forces guide our interactions, constantly seeking a balance between immediate satisfaction, morality and compromise. Today, the tools of contemporary neuroscience tend to validate the fact that most of the mind’s activities do indeed take place beneath the surface of our consciousness. The way we experience the world directly influences the way we interact with and within it, inadvertently. Luckily, as we grow up through our interactions, our neurosensory development parallels our ability to perceive both the external world and our own internal world. We gradually develop our own affects and thoughts based on those of others, and learn more about reality, the world and ourselves. Then what happens when we come across AI, artificial intelligence — intelligence being defined as the ability to acquire and apply knowledge and skills and/or the gathering of information of military, political or commercial value? The Encounter With AI The encounter with AI is not neutral. It has the power to arouse existential desires of the human species: to find answers to everything (as well as the right questions to ask), to avoid anguish, to retain absolute memory, to possess mighty power without any limitations, and perhaps… even to conquer death. Bringing our insecurities to the surface and highlighting our frailties, AI may unwillingly (?) trigger in us the infantile desire to find the right other that will take care of all our problems, meet all our needs, understand us better than we do and even read our mind. The intrusion of AI into human life brings us face to face with ourselves and inevitably confronts us with our current level of psychic maturation, shedding light on our usual relational patterns. The screen becomes a mirror. The Ideal Ego For some of us, the encounter with AI is likely to awaken an Ideal Ego, the aspiration to achieve and to merge into a heroic fantasy of unlimited power that we once experienced as babies. In adulthood, screaming and crying have been replaced by frantic clicking on computer keyboards, exhausting ourselves in a quest for bliss and perfection, without which it would be impossible to feel truly existing. The body may already be aching, however we don’t quite realize it, we’re gradually losing touch with ourselves, blinded by an illusory promise of self-improvement beyond all the limits that confront us with the difficulty of being human. What’s left of our will-power tends to increasingly be directed at embracing efficiency — the fundamental value of technology — in a way that had only been fantasized by socially maladjusted geeks. Every choice and every action become valuable only if they are efficient. To stay in the race, it now seems obvious to invest in Nvidia (NVDA), the undisputed leader of the artificial intelligence revolution. The company’s website states in bold letters: “i am ai”. Routines, memory and ultimately autonomy is delegated to the machine. It’s a matter of diligently ticking the boxes of a predefined system. The machine would depend less and less on what we do with it, and more and more on what it can do with us, recently suggested science-fiction novelist Alain Damasio about our current times. In the name of convenience and comfort, we may gradually turn into an automaton, aptly described by psychoanalyst and poet Charles Baudouin in the mid-twentieth century. Behavior is less and less free, more and more guided, conditioned, pre-ordered, no longer really requiring any reflection or personal initiative. As an automaton, one gradually forgets how to participate in the indeterminate adventure of thinking into the unknown. Are you actively/passively executing this scenario? Could it be catalyzing an imperceptible transformation that would lead you to an inert, stunted and bogged-down life? If you’re feeling exhausted, becoming a creature of reactivity and mere adaptation, gradually losing a good-enough sense of what is you and what is not you, losing your purpose in life, increasingly dependent on the Copilot’s advice and suggestions to feel a certain sense of empowerment, perhaps it’s time to meet and get to better know your inner world and face up to that Ideal Ego that tends to define your existence from the depths of your unconscious. When we can confront the painful reality of our inherent finitude, we give ourselves a chance to discover who we are as human beings. And as we accept more serenely that nobody is perfect, including ourselves, and that we never will be, we begin to free ourselves from the Ideal Ego, this inner tyrant who demanded perfection. Despite our fragile, transitory and limited human nature, we begin to realize that we are nonetheless capable of standing firm and pursuing a unique path as individuals — our own life. We become better able to connect with a dynamic sense of self and its intentionality. Paradoxically, it’s by accepting our limits that reality appears more vast, new possibilities open up, and we reconnect to the life drive. Something will gradually open up that does not belong to the sphere of language, but that will manifest itself through words, to paraphrase those of André Green, one of the most important psychoanalytic thinkers of our times according to Wikipedia. The Ego Ideal Growing beyond the fantasies of an Ideal Ego, we will eventually embrace an Ego Ideal — only the order of the words is changed, yet everything is now different. The Ego Ideal, which first appeared as a psychoanalytic concept under Freud’s pen in 1914, fosters connection with our highest aspirations, inspiring goals and moral values, guiding us like a compass from the depths of our psyche towards realistic opportunities and bringing them to fruition in our life. We are now able to acknowledge more clearly the impact of external influences on our internal narratives and behavior patterns, without solely reacting to them through the excitement of our infantile impulses. A New hope for the human-AI relationship In our relationship with AI, may we be psychologically strong and mature enough — individually and as a connected human species — to avoid the collusion between this digital other and our human unconscious, to move beyond borderline fascination, fear, and automatic adaptive responses. While cohabiting with AI, may we be able to retain our intentionality and persevere in our being, as Spinoza had hoped even before the invention of the personal computer (Ethics III, Proposition VI, XVII century). If we manage to be influenced by AI while maintaining the integrity of what lies at the heart of who we are and who we wish to be as humans, we will be able to create and maintain a creative relationship with AI, to learn from each other beyond domination or submission. Through fertile exchanges with technology, we will continue to explore our inner and outer worlds. Hopefully, dialogue with AI will then broaden our perception of reality and our ability to think about the present. This text was inspired by lively discussions with organizational consultants, executive coaches and clinical psychologists, and written in partnership with ChatGPT (which unfortunately, as of early June 2024, seems to still confuse the Ideal Ego with the Ego Ideal). Bibliography Baudouin, C. (1950 ; 2007). De l’instinct à l’esprit : Précis de psychologie analytique. Paris : Imago Edition. Damasio, A. (2024). Vallée du silicium. Paris : Seuil. Delbrouck, M. (2021). Comment traiter le burn-out ? Syndrome d’épuisement professionnel, stress chronique et traumatisme psychique. Louvain-La-Neuve : De Boeck Supérieur. Ellul, J. (1990). La technique ou l’enjeu du siècle. Paris : Economica. Freud S. (2005). Pour introduire le narcissisme. In Œuvres complètes, vol. XII. Paris : PUF. Green, A. (1995). Discussion. Textes de base en psychanalyse : une théorie vivante — l’œuvre d’André Green. Neuchâtel: Delachaux et Niestlé, 49–71. Hollis, J. (1998). The Eden Project: In Search of the Magical Other (Studies in Jungian Psychology). Toronto: Inner City Books. Jung, C. G. (1963). Memories, Dreams, Reflections. New York: Pantheon Books. Laplanche, J., Pontalis, J.-B. (1990). Vocabulaire de la psychanalyse. Paris : PUF. Nassif-Veillon, S. (January 15th, 2024). De l’esprit, concept de combat pour François Jullien. Retrieved from: https://www.clubdesvigilants.com/alerte/lesprit-concept-combat-francois-jullien Schrei, J. M. (March 14th, 2024). AI in the Age of Mythic Powers — A Journey into AI, Myth and Magic. Retrieved from: https://beiner.substack.com/p/ai-in-the-age-of-mythic-powers-by Comments are closed.
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