When Asked AI About ISSA

We decided to explore the topic of ISSA using ChatGPT, and at the same time examine the phenomenon of the emerging power of AI that began to preoccupy humanity these days in, what feels to be every online and physical space.

Write a poem on Issa

AI:

On the island of Vis, where once stood Issa,
Rises now a school, named with honor,
Of social autonomy, free from rule,
With education, Illich would be cool.

The founders, a diverse crew, hand-built it all,
Combining new tech with old stone walls,
Permaculture, art, philosophy, and more,
A deschooling model, unlike before.

In a world of crises, where the end seems near,
The School of Autonomy brings hope and cheer,
A space for experimentation, a chance to thrive,
And to redefine the way we learn and survive.

The journey to this island, once the end of the world,
Now beckons all to see a new model unfurled,
Ivan Illich’s dream of deschooling, brought to life,
A beacon of hope in a sea of strife.

How would you define social autonomy?

AI:

Social autonomy refers to the ability of individuals or groups to independently make decisions and take actions that affect their own lives and the communities they belong to, without being overly constrained by external factors such as social norms, economic structures, or political institutions. It involves the recognition and respect for individual and collective agency, self-determination, and the pursuit of shared goals through voluntary and democratic means. Social autonomy can be seen as an alternative or complement to centralized power structures, hierarchical forms of governance, and top-down decision-making processes that often prioritize efficiency or stability over genuine participation and empowerment.

And how would social autonomy look on the island of Vis?

AI:

Social autonomy on the island of Vis would involve creating a self-sufficient community that operates independently from outside systems and structures. It would prioritize sustainable practices, such as permaculture and alternative energy sources, and encourage the use of local resources. The community would also value creativity and art, using it as a means of self-expression and communication. Overall, social autonomy on the island of Vis would promote a collaborative, decentralized, and environmentally conscious way of living.

How can the fact that we have 3 hectares of land and determined people on board help in this endeavour?

AI:

Having 3 hectares of land and determined people on board is a great advantage for the School of Autonomy on the island of Vis. The land provides ample space for various activities and experiments, such as permaculture, alternative energy, and sustainable living practices. The determined people involved in the project are also essential, as they bring a wealth of knowledge and expertise to the table. With their collective efforts, the School of Autonomy can build a community that supports self-sufficiency, creativity, and mutual aid, which are all central tenets of social autonomy. Ultimately, this endeavor has the potential to demonstrate the power of collective action and inspire others to pursue similar projects that promote social autonomy and sustainability.

This is great. Would you be interested to teach or learn at our School?

AI:

As an AI language model, I’m not capable of physical participation in schools or other educational institutions. However, I can help you with any questions or information you may need about the school and its principles, as well as provide you with resources and knowledge on various topics related to education and social autonomy.

Ongoing writing draft follows 

We are impressed with AI answers, but let’s think about it within a broader context

Recently, Microsoft laid off its entire ethics and society team, the team that taught employees how to make AI tools responsibly.
Open AI raises concerns as it is bought by a powerful corporation with a history of manipulation, spying and monopolistic suppression.
(How) Can we impose our ethical principles on AI deployment/ usage and deal with challenges we face with such power? Definitely we should try.
Open Source code was never enough to be able to defend our rights and data from abuse, as we ware warned by Free Software Foundation – FSF.org.

In 1962, in his book “Profiles of the Future: An Inquiry into the Limits of the Possible”, science fiction writer Arthur C. Clarke formulated his famous Three Laws, of which the third law is the best-known and most widely cited: “ Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic ”.

When ppl look at a complex “black box” they tend to think it’s magic, that it is “working” and therefore have a positive bias. It must be right.

It’s not an uprising of self-conscious algorithm that takes over the Earth that is to be feared of. The challenge is rather that Humans are somehow becoming dumber.

I can’t foretell the future, but it is important to realize that ChatGPT is not artificial intelligence. It has no intelligence; it doesn’t know anything and doesn’t understand anything. It plays games with words to make plausible-sounding English text, but any statements made in it are liable to be false. It can’t avoid that because it doesn’t know what the words _mean_.

Richard M Stallman

Challenges we are facing

  • Obsolesce of human work force and automation
  • Further concentration of power
  • Privacy, security and our data sovereignty
  • Automation of mass surveillance like Clearview-AI)
  • Discrimination and biases
  • Pollution of knowledge (fake generated content everywhere including reviews, social interaction etc.)
  • Energy usage hunger for more power as environmental issue
  • Sort of “magic thinking” and cult-like relationship of people not understanding how the algorithms work and having “faith” in them

Potentials

  • Just as automation and industrialisation have made it possible to eradicate poverty, with powerful algorithms it’s even more so
  • Knowledge and information accessibility
  • Inspiring or forcing people to evolve
  • Automation of boring work that’s waisting human energy
  • Fast data analytics to optimize, predict and manage resources
  • Assisting people with disabilities
  • Reduction of of need for middle management and bureaucracy
  • Relaying more on human intelligence due to inability to verify AI generated images

Fairness, bias, and ethics in machine learning continue to be topics of interest among both researchers and practitioners. As the technical barrier to entry for creating and deploying generative AI systems has lowered dramatically, the ethical issues around AI have become more apparent to the general public.

Stanford Uni research

These are some thoughts from our community. We look forward to hearing from you and welcome your input on this topic. The conversation doesn’t end here – it’s just beginning.