In the past years, we have seen a new breed of technologies enter our lives. These are “technologies of the mind” – not technologies of efficiency or productivity alone.
Technologies of the mind may be described as technologies that connect and carry thought from one set of people to another. The printed book, a product of the 15th century in the western world, was one of the first technologies of mind the world has seen. Since then we have experienced the radio, film, television, all as “technologies of the mind”. Each of these have been used to communicate ideas and images, and have shaped thought and perception through these centuries. Each is, in one sense, a force that has been used in multiple ways – entertainment, news, opinion, and new thought. Each has had its craftsmen, its noble moments when it has played a positive role in the life of ordinary people in areas like education, and its less noble moments, when it has been manipulated for propaganda and shaping collective thought.
The social media technologies appear to be the latest in the long list of the “technologies of the mind”. Even more so, AI can be seen as a quantum leap in technologies of the mind.
However, it is worth looking for the differences besides the commonality between these new technologies and the older technologies.
The first difference is that social media content is not a product created by professionals or craftsmen for the lay audience (unlike books, newspapers, network television, radio, etc.). Rather, they are a product created by millions of individuals across the globe. This means that any person, without responsibilities, without accountability, without any form of filtering or self-correction can share ideas and communications all over the globe.
The second difference is that the choice of content within the medium was squarely in the hands of the consumer. Each of us can choose the books we read, the shows we watch, the films we enjoy. But social media works on algorithms that manipulate the flow of content into your screen. They can bombard you with the same material, or cutoff communications and content which they don’t want you to have. They have unlimited, daily control of the mental food you eat.
Both these differences together have led to the abrogation of responsibility by the individual, combined with unlimited power over the consumer of content by the technology provider.
This is a profound change in the equation or paradigm between the consumer and ‘technology of the mind’ being used.
AI makes matters worse.
Generative AI enters our homes not only as information or knowledge resources, but as a private content creator who is able to whisper in our ears – guidance, advice, new directions of thinking – one who is able to co-construct knowledge products with us.
Most important, Generative AI can shape our minds at a much deeper level by not just nudging our thinking process but also shifting our perspectives and the “frames of thought” that we use in our thinking.
Thus, the modern technologies of mind seem to have an inordinate capacity to not just influence us but take away our cognitive agency itself, by deciding for us not just the content we consume, but the perspectives we carry, and the very structure of reason we use.
How do we protect ourselves – the increasing population of individuals who are using these technologies – against this threat, not just from content but from the insidious transformation of thought and reason?
The answer seems to be conscious development of cognitive agency – the capacity to discern and find our own response (based on our own highest interests) to the deluge of content and information we experience.
Building cognitive agency is not easy. It means teaching people how to think, reason, use knowledge effectively, so that we reap the benefits of these technologies without losing our individuality and cognitive independence. Equally important, it means giving people the self-confidence to say ‘no’ to an all-knowing machine.
This means that we train users of these technologies not just in the skills to use these technologies but empower them cognitively so that they act as masters of the new technologies of mind rather than being subsumed and drowned by them. This will protect users from being manipulated into actions – individually and collectively – that lead to disastrous outcomes for both individuals, and our society at large.