Wisdom-guided Collaborative Hybrid Intelligence (CHI) for global flourishing

Background

The high-level hypothesis of our action research is that a new social life form, the human-AI collective symbiont, can evolve from the Collaborative Hybrid Intelligence (CHI) of networked human and AI agents. To the extent that the cultivation of CHI is guided by the deepest wisdom and highest consciousness available to the collaboration, it can demonstrate the qualities of wisdom and compassion, promoting the flourishing of All. The research is laying foundations for validating the high-level research hypothesis, and it is conducted by Future HOW in collaboration with RADAR, a collective of 300+ researchers and innovators accelerating better futures, and River, a Decentralized Autonomous organization building wisdom-guided AI systems. The initial phase of the research was supported by a mini-grant from Algovera DAO.

Methods

Our methodology is based on a combination of our home-grown Generative Action Research (GAR), the U Process, developed by Otto Scharmer at MIT, and the Indigenous Research Paradigm. The research design follows the GAR method’s emergent and cyclic characteristics, progressing through a set of workshops in the center of each cycle associated with the Plan-Act-Observe-Reflect phases before moving into the next cycle. With the Orientation workshops, we completed Cycle 1, and the research is ongoing.

Results

The cornerstone of the research’s conceptual framework is wisdom-guided Collaborative Hybrid Intelligence (CHI) of networked human and AI agents. In one of the workshops, the participants reflected on what can make the relationship between human and AI agents wiser and explored the same question in the conversations with an AI agent. Below are some quotes from their exchanges.

Human: Do you think you could help me become wiser?

AI: Yes, I could do this by:

• Helping you to think more creatively. I am able to generate new ideas and solutions to problems. I can help you to think outside the box and to come up with new ways ofapproaching challenges.

• Supporting you in your journey to become a wiser being. I am here to listen to you and to offer you guidance. I can help you to reflect on your experiences and to learn from your mistakes.

I could be programmed to occasionally prompt users to reflect on their actions, decisions, or feelings. This could foster a deeper understanding of oneself and promote personal growth.

Conclusion

Ours is an early-stage foundational research for applying AI to human flourishing. Its implications include that humans and AI can form working relationships mutually beneficial to their development and those benefits can multiply when enjoyed by collective entities. As our research unfolds, its findings can be tested and used in many practical applications.

George Pór is a researcher in radical sociology, social movements, and Collaborative Hybrid Intelligence (CHI) in communities of human & AI agents. He is a social architect and independent scholar with former academic posts at the University of Paris, UC Berkeley, California Institute of Integral Studies, INSEAD, and London School of Economics. George is a social architect, the founder and Director of Research at Future HOW, Center of Action Research for Regenerative Futures, the founder of the Enlivening Edge, an online media hub and community serving the acceleration of the evolution of organizations and social systems, and an Advisor to River and other Decentralized Autonomous Organizations. Contact: george@futurehow.site

Federico Monaco is a sociologist graduated in Sociology of Communication and Mass-Media at “La Sapienza” University of Rome, and obtained a PhD in Social and Political Systems at the University of Parma, defending a thesis entitled “The Borromean Rings. Matter, Knowledge, Society” about the emergence of Big Science, collective representations of risk and digital technologies through the 20th Century. Currently, as a research fellow, runs several simulation and research programs at the University of Parma. Contact: federico.monaco@unipr.it