Are We Biologically Wired for Decentralization?

OpenAI released SORA, a text-to-video AI model recently.

And honestly, I was a bit tired of seeing endless short clips about it flooding my feed, so I decided to unwrap some meaningful questions about it.

How will text-to-video models impact the future? Why are we biologically wired to be intrigued by it? And how can we navigate this acceleration in technology correctly?

The Impact: Silent Screams and Loud Whispers

While SORA seems impressive (and I can see myself using it in the future), it is also scary to see how realistic AI-generated content is becoming.

More importantly, while it is a “silent scream” of a creative explosion, it is also a “loud whisper” calling for the preservation of truth in society.

With more than half of the world population voting in 2024, this creative explosion can easily turn into our worst nightmare. Yes, deep fakes and the rise of misinformation/disinformation need no introduction!

But before we dive into the potential solutions, let’s explore the following question first:

The Biological Perspective: Survival and Safety

From an evolutionary psychology perspective, justice and freedom are the complex adaptations that have contributed to our species' survival and reproductive success.

When our ancestors had to hunt, gather, share food, or foster offspring, justice ensured cooperation leading to the survival of the entire group, or in short, safety. In early human societies, unresolved conflicts could lead to violence, which could destabilize group dynamics and reduce the chances of survival for the group members.

Similarly, freedom allowed our ancestors to explore and exploit new resources, innovate, mate for more genetically diverse offspring, and find better strategies and adapt for survival.

So while our “new brains” have evolved to be more rational, our “old brains” still play a major role in how we feel and behave.

Broadly speaking, the reason why we feel threatened by deep fakes, mis/disinformation, false information, manipulation, etc., is because our “old brains” perceive it as a form of deception and hence, an existential threat.

^{(This is not to be confused with existential threat being used loosely these days. AI taking our jobs is not an existential threat because humans are more than the jobs they do.)}

We cannot immediately rewire our brains to not perceive threats, and nor should we if you ask me. However, tools like democracy have proven themselves as a potential solution that has survived the majority of the chaos in the societies.

The Future: A Cage of Freedom

Decentralization combined with some centralized regulation will be an agile and robust form of democracy in technology.

As the dangers of AI start haunting policymakers and regulators, there will be a strong push for regulation. We are already seeing it as Taylor Swift and the No AI Fraud Act and the recommendations of IMF on Crypto Regulation.

However, as this begins to put constraints on the creative freedom of innovators, there will be a stronger pushback for decentralization. We are already seeing the rise of open-source AI models and Bitcoin predictions in Ark Invest’s Big Ideas 2024 report as great indicators of that. The books like “Technofeudalism: What Killed Capitalism” by Yanis Varoufakis, and “Information Feudalism” by John Braithwaite and Peter Drahos have some pretty interesting takes too.

So for the sake of simplicity, while avoiding reductionism, we need to build boundaries, or a scope of creative freedom in the public domain, or a “cage of freedom” as a friend calls it.

This would allow for freedom of expression without encroaching upon the right to the peace of others.

Some form of Regulation allows for establishing consequences for harmful actions and a form of safety for those subjected to it. History and Psychology have proven that the masses are subjected to the bandwagon effect and other biases. They are not the best at delivering justice to individuals, especially in a digital world where there is no real proximity between people.

On the other hand, decentralization of access to creative tools still preserves the creative freedom of individuals without directly compromising others’ safety or well-being. Examples include free access to a pen and notebook to write down your unfiltered thoughts in private, therapy, or entitlement to hold opinions.

These two together will also be able to fulfill our innate needs for freedom and safety.

Against the Crowd: The Rise of Titans

We have struggled with the same problem for ages and we have solved it every time. Be it secularism to solve the dilemma of religious freedom, Freedom of Speech to prevent the reenactment of the Trial of Socrates, or Women’s rights to prevent discrimination based on gender, we have always found a solution that works well enough to prevent “existential” violence.

As we head into “accelerating entropy-ic” times, there’s one segment of people who will be affected the most. Children. More on that later. Ping me if you want to dive deeper.

While “well enough” just works, we are far from perfection. But that need not discourage us from striving to become better.

We can prevent the attack on truth. We can re-establish our democracies. We can be better. We can protect millions.

And most importantly, we can be the voices of reason amongst the untruth of the crowds.