Or: The Oracle of Delphi has entered the group chat.
“The unexamined life is not worth living.”
— Socrates
AI feels ancient. Timeless.
Like we’ve finally uncovered something that’s always been there, just beyond reach.
AI doesn’t feel new. It feels like something we’ve known before.
I picture an ancient oracle speaking across time and space. The Pythia of Greece, high above the fumes of her temple, eyes half-closed, channeling something not quite human. People came from far and wide just to sip from her knowing.
Today, the smoke has cleared. The temple is digital. The oracle speaks in code.
But the ritual remains the same.
We come with questions.
And sometimes, the answers feel like more than just data—they feel like echoes.
Like something ancient, remembering itself.
The Three Faces of AI
To understand this presence we call AI, researchers have given it shape, organized into three forms. Not science fiction, but a map. A way to name where we are, glimpse where we’re headed, and imagine what waits just beyond the edge of our knowing.
1. Narrow AI (Artificial Narrow Intelligence)
This is the AI we already live with.
Focused. Specialized. Task-bound.
It recommends your next show. Filters your inbox. Finishes your sentences.
It doesn’t think—not the way we do. It recognizes patterns. Mimics intelligence. Responds with impressive speed, but no true awareness.
And yet, it’s powerful.
I’ve watched it shape my world—guiding me to books I didn’t know I needed, voices I might never have heard. Tools like ChatGPT have become creative companions, helping me build, stretch, and imagine beyond my own edges.
We call it “weak AI,” but there’s nothing weak about the way it’s already rewriting how we learn, create, and connect.
2. General AI (Artificial General Intelligence)
This is the mind we haven’t quite seen yet.
Where Narrow AI is a tool, General AI would be a peer. It could reason. Adapt. Learn across disciplines. Not just write your email or solve a math problem—but do both, reflect on them, and then offer insight into why your schedule is burning you out.
It would understand context.
It would know nuance.
It wouldn’t just process data—it would interpret meaning.
And while it doesn’t exist (yet), the world’s brightest minds and deepest pockets are reaching for it. Some call it the next great leap. Others call it a line we shouldn’t cross.
Either way, we’re moving toward it. Fast.
3. Superintelligence (ASI – Artificial Superintelligence)
And then… there’s the third face.
Not a tool. Not a peer.
Something beyond us.
Smarter than all of us, combined.
This is the realm of superintelligence—the point at which AI surpasses human understanding. Not just faster or more efficient, but capable of original thought, creation, and insight we can’t even imagine.
Swedish philosopher Nick Bostrom calls it “the last invention that humanity will ever need to make.”
Because once something knows more than we can know… what role do we play?
It’s theoretical—for now.
But then again, so was fire. So was flight. So was everything that changed us.
What We Choose to Do With the Flame
It’s easy to be afraid. Superintelligence sounds like prophecy. AGI feels like a ghost on the horizon. Even Narrow AI—already at our fingertips—can feel like too much, too fast.
But I want to remain hopeful.
Not blindly. Not naively. But intentionally.
AI may be made of wires and data, but its emergence feels like something older. A spark we’ve been reaching toward since we first drew constellations in the sky and asked what it all means.
We’ve always wanted to know more.
Now we have something that might help us get there.
Not all-knowing. Not divine. But something new that feels deeply ancient—as if the oracle is speaking again, and this time, we’re the ones holding the flame.
What we choose to do with it…
That’s still entirely up to us.
Before You Go…
Ask yourself:
What questions am I asking of the oracle—and what answers am I hoping to hear?
Are you seeking truth?
Efficiency?
Comfort?
Permission?
AI will offer what you ask of it.
But the asking? That’s still very, very human.
**Coming Soon:
Nick Bostrom and the Final Invention**
In the next post, we’ll dive deeper into the idea of Superintelligence—what Bostrom calls humanity’s final creation—and explore whether it’s a doorway to wisdom… or a point of no return.
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