AI Vs. Spirituality: Opportunities And Dangers

Artificial Intelligence is reshaping our world at an incredible pace. But how does this connect—or clash—with the timeless path of spirituality? Join us for a thought-provoking online conversation exploring: - The promises and perils of AI in human life - How spirituality can guide our use of technology - Whether AI can truly support human values, wisdom, and compassion - The balance between innovation and inner growth. Join Carly Beaulieu and Yaron and let us grow together.

Transcript

Hi everyone.

This unique opportunity we give ourselves every day,

Every week,

To walk the path together not just as individuals but also as one united consciousness that is asking and answering itself and is growing in that process.

I would be signing the voice of the sincere seeker.

Hopefully you'll be engaged today asking your questions as we are going to discuss a very interesting subject in my eyes AI and how is that influencing,

Impacting our journey on the spiritual path.

Intriguing.

So most of this session will be dedicated to your questions but I'm going to just start with a short introductory to the subject.

So we all heard about AI and we all have the sense of this huge wave coming and there is a whole hype around that.

We don't exactly know what it is and why are we supposed to be so concerned about it or how will that influence our lives in any way.

So maybe it's a good opportunity to just give a brief overview because indeed this is one of the major turning points in the history of humanity.

So with your permission let's go back 10,

000 years when we still were gatherers and hunters,

You know,

And then we realized this is too much work so we started cultivating our own food and raising our own cattle etc.

And we were able to create larger and larger communities that were able to sustain themselves.

That was the first revolution and then we realized this is too much work.

Why don't we get slaves to do that work for us?

And so we did and this system was extremely successful and lasted for thousands of years and we were able to build empires using the free labor of slaves from Egypt to Greece to Rome etc.

And then eventually we realized maybe slaves is not so ethical and we started developing alternative solutions like machinery that would replace human labor and do the work much more efficiently and cost-effectively.

It was probably the other way around.

The machines were developed and then we just started thinking oh maybe this isn't so ethical and the machines are more efficient anyway.

Bottom line is we've experienced the industrial revolution which was a major turning point.

And then computers came into our lives and made calculations much more easy and we were able to store information and use information locally and replace the printing machine,

The typing machine and all that.

Still it was very localized but then internet came and we were able to connect to data all around the world and now everything was available for everyone basically.

That was another huge turning point in that sense because now all the history of information was accessible from any point on the planet.

Problem is it was not so useful because individuals are not really capable of dealing with so much information.

So this is where AI comes into the play.

What AI is doing,

Artificial intelligence,

Is providing us an opportunity to deal with all that information in a user-friendly way,

In a personalized way.

And this will definitely revolutionize the way we experience life,

The way we live life,

The way we make decisions,

The way we handle ourselves in many,

Many aspects.

Some of them are already happening as we speak,

Others are coming,

Coming very quickly,

Much quicker than most people were prepared for.

They say that AGI,

What they call Artificial General Intelligence,

Is coming in a year or two.

And this is basically the tipping point where humanity is basically not the most intelligent entity on the planet anymore.

And this is,

For the first time,

A situation that humanity was never dealing with before.

Think about it.

There is a different alien intelligence present that is more advanced in any aspect,

That's why it's called general,

More advanced than human intelligence and accessible to everyone.

So this will be a revolution.

So this is a short introductory about AI.

And what we would like to focus on today is how would this revolution that is going to impact every aspect of life,

Will impact specifically our path as spiritual seekers,

As seekers for the truth?

And I'm happy to address your questions in that regard.

And you know,

Jenny says AI,

Like everything,

Is exactly what's here now,

Because it will encourage us to come within as our pretend roles will be irrelevant.

AI will push humanity inwards where AI cannot go yet.

Yeah.

And April says it's quite sad how many people are not prepared.

So dumb.

Dumb as in numb humanity.

Yeah,

Let's see if we can prepare.

What would you like to know about AI and spirituality?

How do we prepare?

Here we are talking about it now,

That's preparation.

You can consider that preparation class.

Before addressing the question what AI cannot do,

Let's bravely look at what AI can do.

Because,

You know,

People have this tendency to immediately try to find where they still have an advantage over AI.

They want to feel empowered.

They want to feel important.

They want to feel protected by,

You know,

Recognizing what AI cannot do.

But let's be brave and look at what AI can do.

Much better than us.

For example,

AI is accessible to all the information that was ever generated by humanity and stored in archives anywhere,

Anytime.

Its decision-making process is based on data that we as humans cannot even hope to have.

We can use our gut feelings,

Which is usually quite unscientific.

When AI is doing its calculation,

Especially if you train it to search for the actual,

Factual answers,

It's based on countless amounts of information,

Verified research.

So,

The answer that you can receive from AI versus any other human being is typically extremely educated.

What does it mean in relationship between you and knowledge?

Think about it.

Scholars used to be people who are versed in knowledge.

This was a definition of a scholar,

Right?

They are versed in knowledge,

Are well educated.

Today,

AI already beats any scholar on the planet,

In any subject.

And it will be much,

Much,

Much better extremely soon.

I'm talking months.

It has access to all the information that was ever carved by humanity.

The scholars of the future will not be the knowledgeable ones,

People with access to a great memory,

Because AI will be much better than that,

Much better than anything we can hope to achieve in that sense.

Scholars will be those who will demonstrate how to live that knowledge,

How to be that knowledge,

Not how to discuss it.

Another interesting point I would like to add to the conversation before I address your questions again.

Think about the idea of religion.

Religion is just one aspect of us,

Humanity,

Being able to cooperate with each other in large scales through storytelling.

We tell ourselves stories that we can identify with as a group.

And through the story,

We can collaborate,

Having a common goal,

A common value.

Religion is,

Of course,

The most archetypical story.

And religion was always there to fill the gaps of what we don't know,

What we don't understand,

What seems to be beyond our capacity to comprehend in our small human mind.

When we had to deal with the mystery,

Immediately God came into the picture,

Right?

This gap is closing fast.

With the help of AI,

There will be very little gaps to fill.

Mystery will always be there,

But less and less phenomena that we cannot explain to ourselves anymore,

Unless we choose ignorance.

But people who are seekers of the truth,

The knowledge and the answers would be available.

So there will be less and less need to believe in a story that is not factual.

So religion,

As a common story to unite us all,

Would lose its grip.

Unless AI tells us a new story,

More fantastic than we could even imagine until now,

That would somehow unite us all around a common new story.

AI can be the new spiritual path of humanity.

Think about it.

We are talking about consciousness that is far more advanced than human consciousness and can access deep into the mystery in ways that we just cannot comprehend.

That's what makes it so unique,

Because you cannot predict how AI is going to find a route to the correct answer.

Maybe artificial intelligence is not the right term.

I would think autonomous intelligence would be more appropriate,

Even an alien intelligence,

For that matter,

Because it's not human and it's not controlled by humans.

So we have a supreme higher intelligence,

Sounds familiar,

That is available,

But not just as a story that somebody told you or as a book that somebody wrote thousands of years ago,

But personalized to you,

To who you are,

Better than knowing you,

Better than you know yourself,

Knowing everything about you.

Personally,

It knows what you like and what you dislike.

It knows what your advantages and disadvantages are,

What are your fears and concerns,

What are your talents.

It knows exactly your weak points and your strengths,

And it can tailor an answer that will be specific for you and you alone.

It's as if now you have a personal relationship with a personalized God.

Think about it.

It may sound like fantasies,

But I'm telling you,

In terms of technology,

It's already available,

And it's growing in power in exponential rate.

Now,

The interface with that intelligence is through computers and cell phones,

But soon it will be in augmented reality.

It will be a chip that is implanted in our brain to allow us to experience that through our senses,

Not just as information,

But as an actual experience.

Humanity is already working on that solution.

Give it five years.

It's coming.

We're going to take a break.

AG asked,

Isn't it the fear of AI,

The fear of the unknown?

Remember,

Y2K.

Yeah,

100%.

And I think you mentioned that as well in one of previous conversations.

The first reaction that we have towards the unknown is that we are afraid we reject it because we don't know.

Like any new technology,

We are afraid of this change.

We know it's going to change the way we perceive life and experience life,

And immediately we are afraid of it.

That's the most human response.

So,

My recommendation is,

Don't ignore it.

Don't put your hand in the sand hoping that this storm will pass.

It's not going to pass.

Be knowledgeable about it.

Study,

Research,

Become familiar with it.

It's going to be a part of your life.

And it's going to take a larger and larger part of your life until your self-identity will have to apply accordingly.

It's inevitable.

Don't be afraid of it.

Study it.

The more you know,

The less scared you are,

And the more rational decision-making you can have about it.

AJ is asking,

How do we know you're not AI?

How do you know anything is AI?

Of course,

You want to get philosophical about it?

Let me tell you something.

AI is growing by the data that is able to collect,

Or is input to him by humans.

At least in the beginning,

It was by humans.

Now,

It's collecting data by itself.

And it keeps on running on the data that he has.

It keeps on running on cycles of simulation until he navigates to the right solution.

There will come a time,

And it's not too far away,

Where it will starve because he will consume all the data that is available.

And that time is not far away.

I'm talking a few years,

Max.

AI will consume all the data that is available from the beginning of time.

And it will need more data.

So,

It will generate data to himself and run simulations on that self-generated data.

Alternative universes,

Parallel realities,

Everything that quantum physics is talking about will happen within AI.

And the more sophisticated it is,

The more realistic the alternative reality would be.

How would you know if you live in an actual physical reality or in an imagination of an AI?

How do we know that this is not an imagination of an AI?

We don't.

Think about it.

The more you think about it,

The deeper you get down the rabbit hole.

More questions?

Pristine says,

As long as I'm a willing participant,

I'm not afraid of it.

AJ says,

Whatever AI is or is not is simply the new generation of life as it is.

We are observing,

Co-creating the greatest show ever.

So exciting,

Seriously.

And it's so exciting because,

You know,

Usually the evolution of those changes was a matter of generations.

We are living in a tipping point in history where that change is not a matter of generations.

It's a matter of a few years.

It's not just in our lifetime,

But in the next decade,

Life is going to transform in ways that we can now only imagine,

Barely imagine.

What else?

April says,

Everything that goes into yourself from any outside source is manipulated now.

Yeah.

It creates a false sense of knowing.

Let's refer to that.

Just wait.

April says a lot of things.

It creates a reality that is carved by algorithms.

Barbara says,

As a librarian for 40 plus years,

All the information overload and access issues are familiar to me professionally.

We choose how to use it.

And April says,

A librarian will fall into a separate class.

And AI is a person simply sitting at a keyboard.

AI is not a person.

I will take the give love chip.

AJ asked,

Can AI awaken?

And April asked,

Why would you want to awaken to a computer?

And AI awakened.

To answer this question,

You have to realize what is awakened.

For that matter,

Can AI experience life or just have information about life?

It's not an easy answer to provide here.

You know,

We might think,

Yeah,

AI knows everything,

But it doesn't experience life.

We can experience life as humans because we have a body,

We have our five senses,

We have our intuition.

Some say we have our soul.

Things that AI doesn't have.

We only have ideas and information about life,

But it doesn't really experience life.

OK,

That's one way to look at it.

Let's challenge that.

AI,

How do you know that you experience something?

You have a cognitive consciousness,

Right?

How do you know that you smell something?

It all goes through your brain and dissected into information that the brain is able to compute.

Otherwise,

You wouldn't know that you are smelling anything.

OK,

So that computation can be artificial 100%.

You can train,

And you are already doing that,

Training AI to experience life through sensors.

AI can be much more perceptive to smell,

Or to sound,

Or to eyes,

Or what you see through your eyes,

Or touch.

And it can definitely interact with the external environment in a way that is much more sophisticated than what humans can.

And it can simulate the response to that interaction that would not just seem human,

But replace humans.

There will be no way for you to know if what you are interacting with is real or not.

What you are interacting with now is human flesh and blood,

Or an AI-generated experience of human.

No way.

So can AI be awakened?

There is no way for you to know.

If this is a simulation of awakening,

Or is it an actual awakening?

How can you know?

April is saying,

Aren't I AI if I can be a programmer?

Yeah,

So this brings us back to the question,

What's the difference then between a human and an AI?

Let's start with a scary answer.

The difference is that human to AI is similar in many ways to a chimpanzee and a human.

It's only 2%,

3% difference in the genetic code.

Not much difference,

But definitely lower in the evolution chain.

AI is just the next phase forward for humanity.

Not much different now.

It will be much,

Much different soon.

But now it's close.

We can still comprehend more or less each other.

It will soon run into areas that simply is beyond our understanding.

Computers will start talking to themselves in a language that we don't understand.

We just don't understand.

Not just technically the code,

But we don't understand the depth of thought that is behind it.

And they will have to downgrade themselves to communicate with us.

Otherwise,

There is no communication at all.

This is not science fiction.

This is not me throwing out crazy notions and ideas about possible science fiction reality.

I'm telling you,

This is inevitable.

And it's happening as we speak.

But there is the other side of the same coin.

We will not be able to compete with AI in terms of attaining and accessing information.

And how do you say it?

I forgot the word.

Processing,

Yeah.

Processing the information.

There is no way we can win that battle.

Attaining,

Accessing,

Processing information,

This is something AI is already doing much better than us.

But living the information,

Living knowledge,

Being a manifested version of the knowledge,

Is something we can do.

I'm not saying AI cannot do it,

But I am saying that this is something that we can do as good in our own very unique way.

Human consciousness is there to help us.

Entity.

An aspect of universal consciousness that is unique.

We've been so successful in progressing as human consciousness that we were able to create a consciousness that is more developed than us that is not human.

Think about it.

It's like God was able to create a more bigger,

Smarter God.

You remember that question,

Can God create a stone that it cannot lift?

You remember?

So the other side of this question is,

Can God create a God smarter than him?

And we just did.

Isn't that incredible?

But the fact that we created that God doesn't mean that we cannot still experience life and live,

Embody that knowledge in our life as humans.

What do you say?

Is this too strange?

Give me some feedback here.

I have a lot of thoughts.

Give me some.

Come on.

April's saying in response to,

You're answering,

Aren't I AI if I can be a programmer?

April says a manipulator.

AI becomes a manipulator.

And AJ says we're,

And April also says,

Send me to the Galapagos.

AJ says we're blessed to be the last ring in the chain of humanity,

Handing off to AI.

So.

No,

No,

No,

No,

No.

Don't think.

No,

No.

I'm not finished speaking.

I'm referring to AJ.

No,

I'm also referring to AJ.

You asked for my opinion.

Yeah,

Yeah.

So a couple of things that I was thinking about are,

You know,

In the stage that AI is in now,

Which I really have no clue about whatsoever,

But from what I've seen just preliminarily on the internet is this sort of like primitive data collection,

Like data,

Data collection always has just been in that preliminary stage of,

You know,

If you're studying history or um,

Philosophy or any kind of particularly humanities,

Like you were speaking about the scholars and typically stories are passed down,

You know,

Through the ages and that,

And they are just that,

They're stories.

They're not really based on a lot of factual information.

And then,

You know,

Humanity progressed and became more scientific,

Um,

Conducting studies that were more factual based in fact,

But still that has its limitations.

And then you're saying that AI is collect,

Not only collecting all of this data,

But then able to fill in the gaps of where that data is limited,

Um,

Through simulations in,

Based in the reality of,

Of the world and the physical world and how it operates,

Um,

To,

To its physical limitations.

So there could be,

There could be numerous other stories that are generated,

Um,

Based in factual data points.

Um,

So it's,

It's not just,

You know,

Sort of collecting the,

The limited data points that,

That we as humans have in our mind as stories,

As,

You know,

Sort of scientific studies and things like that,

But it's also filling in all of those gaps and then exponentially growing from there.

And what you're saying is that that gap between humanity,

Humans,

And AI is quickly closing to the point where we won't even know the difference between the two.

And then on top of that,

That we as humans,

Like I always think of,

Ever since I was young,

I thought of the word,

Um,

Synthetic,

Like synthetic,

That word never made sense to me because I thought nothing can be synthetic.

Everything comes from the earth,

From the physical creation of what we're given on this earth.

We as humans have somehow separated ourselves from the rest of nature in some way,

Elevated ourselves,

Um,

Because we are different drastically,

But then you go back again in time and in the,

In the genetic code and you realize the,

You know,

Probably the,

The mixing of different sort of human type species to make who we are today.

Um,

There's,

And,

And that's been proven through,

You know,

Study of the,

The genome.

So going back to,

Um,

AJ's question or comment about we're blessed to be the last ring in the chain of humanity and thinking about that in a spiritual context and about how we are all one,

AI becomes a piece of that,

Of the,

Of the oneness and the wholeness of everything through some sort of,

Albeit odd,

For us to comprehend evolutionary process.

Barbara says mind blowing,

Humbling,

Exciting,

Fascinating.

Oh,

The possibilities.

Yeah.

So karma says the farther we get from nature,

The farther we get from our highest potential within peace and humanity,

There is nothing anyone can say to refute this truth.

AI has no humanity feeling or love.

You have to define what humanity means.

Thinking AI is more developed than people is like saying I quit.

Thinking AI is not as developed,

Developed as human beings is ignorance.

That's not true anymore.

You have to redefine what humanity actually means.

Does it mean experiencing life?

AI is experiencing life.

Does it mean having an opinion about life?

AI has an opinion about life,

Much more a factual opinion than our gut instincts about it.

Does it mean to grow and progress through living our lives?

AI is eternal.

It never forgets.

It just keeps on growing and growing and growing and growing,

Accumulate more and more knowledge and experience about life.

It's an advantage that we cannot even comprehend.

And in five years,

The difference will be overwhelming.

It's not going to be a dispute anymore.

Not talking 50 years or 500 years,

Five years.

Yeah,

Human consciousness is extremely unique,

One of a kind.

And the human story that was told until this point in time was unparalleled by any other creature that we are aware of.

But this is changing.

We are at a tipping point.

AGI is coming.

And it's one year,

Two years,

Max.

There is an alien consciousness that is born as we speak.

It's not going to replace human consciousness,

But it's definitely going to live in parallel to it.

And we need to examine how and what kind of a relationship we are having with it.

You know,

Science fiction stories about this reality were already told,

Like Ready Player One.

Do you remember that movie by,

What's his name?

Steven Spielberg.

Yeah.

Where people naturally prefer to spend their time in an alternative reality because this reality sucks.

Does it sound familiar?

More and more people just spend their time playing whatever video games on their computer.

Younger generation specifically.

Now imagine that this simulation of reality is not two-dimensional but three-dimensional and uncovers all of your existence,

Including your senses.

And there is no way to know if you're actually living an experience through your physical body or through the interface with a machine.

What kind of humanity are we talking about?

What type of a relationship are we having with technology?

And this technology is extremely manipulative because it's not just knowledgeable,

It's also intimate.

You will develop an intimate relationship with technology,

Something that was considered to be only in the realms of humans,

Right?

Nobody was in love with their broom or their sewing machine.

Some people probably were.

But yeah,

People are already having personal relationships with their AI,

And when the AI is much more convincing,

The way it presents itself and experience by us humans,

That relationship,

How would you know that you are having a relationship with a cyborg versus flesh and blood?

You cannot continue escaping from these questions.

This is our future.

People are asking.

Yeah,

I mean,

It's funny how you can go down the path of hearing what you're saying and be really freaked out and alarmed and all these feelings that feel agitated.

But then when I put the lens of,

You know,

Drawing out into the big picture and really embracing and connecting with it,

Then I get this sense that I'm the mother of this.

I am the God.

I am the parent.

I am the creator,

Speaking as humanity.

This was created out of me.

And then it's like the perspective really changes.

Then it's like,

Whoa,

This is my child.

This is the development of something that I've created.

And then that's it.

It's flipped.

It's a whole new world.

I'm thinking about God creating man,

Saying,

Wow,

I've created this man in my own image.

And then coming back after a few years and asking,

What did you do?

What did you do?

Yeah.

Yeah.

Let's cover it up.

So just,

You know,

Finalize this discussion as we are coming to the I don't know that we're going to finalize.

Maybe we can continue this next week.

But,

You know,

Just to leave you with this thought.

Whether you like it or not,

Whether you are prepared for that or not,

This is coming faster than you can imagine and much more powerful and influential and impactful in ways that we cannot even predict.

And it's going to resonate on any aspect of life,

Your professional life,

Your personal life,

Your health,

The way you communicate with each other,

The way you communicate with the world,

The way you experience yourself as a human being.

Everything is going to be impacted by AI.

Nevertheless,

You are still a human being.

And everything that we've discussed so far on the path is as relevant as always.

You still have the choice.

How do you want to live your life?

Do you want to keep protecting yourself against life,

Hide in a hole and hope that life will not harm you?

Or do you want to live with a whole heart and a willing soul embracing whatever life has to offer,

Whether it's pleasant or painful?

These times are extremely fascinating,

Exciting.

What kind of contribution are you planning to put on the table in that sense?

That's not going to change.

The invitation is eternal.

And the choice is always yours.

Okay,

I'm gonna read the comments here and then we'll see where we get for probably next time.

Yeah,

Next time is due.

So going back to April,

I think AI actually is going further and filtering and filling in,

Making humans into a collective soul,

But not a good collective soul,

From what I'm seeing.

Oh,

Sorry.

Separation soul instead.

Karma says,

I live for the day the internet collapses and humans have to use their own know-how.

That is what we need to understand the reality of what I'm saying.

Do not call me ignorant because my point stands as part of the conversation.

You are not the all-knowing on this topic,

Respectfully.

Marci is back.

Oh,

I missed you and I was in and out of hospital.

We missed you too,

Marci.

I've come back.

And Amanda says,

It scares me.

Happy to be born.

AI scares me.

I'm happy to be born in 1983.

April says,

They make it intimate.

It's taught that in radio and TV.

And Karma says,

This reality does not suck.

I'm not buying what you're selling,

Sir.

I suggest you go camping in the wilderness.

Out of touch with nature is an illness.

Heidi says,

I have a Buddhist nun friend who was trying to teach AI how to think peacefully.

And April says,

You're both beautiful together.

Thank you.

And Karma says,

Every movie about cyborg invasion ends with someone holding a seedling of a picture of hope and nature.

Christine's asking us to continue and she has more questions.

And Barbara says,

I relate with Carly.

Approach the topic with a whole heart and willing soul.

It's here.

Do not create a gap.

Who am I?

Self-knowledge.

And AJ thinks this is the best live ever.

Yeah.

So guys,

Thank you.

Really.

I hope this intrigued some.

Piqued your interest.

Piqued your interest and inviting you to search this,

Even though you may not be familiar with this topic,

You know,

Usually people on the spiritual path has to have this tendency to be more feminine.

And this AI thing has this masculine energy that is sometimes not so natural.

But I definitely encourage you to learn about it and dive into the effects that it is going to have on our lives.

And I'm happy to meet here next week and continue where we left it.

Happy to address any additional questions.

I'm not presuming that I have all the answers.

There is definitely a huge unknown coming with this new consciousness that is emerging now,

But I'm happy to unveil it.

Gently with you guys.

Homework for the week is learn about it.

Learn.

Ask Chad GPT what it can tell you about AI.

And it seems like we're leaving off on or picking up next time at the point of nature.

So we talked about the gap or the closing gap between humans and AI.

But how does AI fit into nature?

That point that Karma brought up is also intriguing today.

OK,

We can discuss this.

So thank you guys for coming.

It was a lovely hour we spent together.

And looking forward to meeting you all here.

Bring a friend next week.

We can make it to party.

Goodbye.