AI is a game changer

AI is a game changer like written language, the printing press, the radio, the personal computer, and the internet. AI will democratize creativity and challenge our irrationality. It will change everything.

It’s not a problem to solve but a relationship to be managed.

Quantum computing will probably increase AI’s complexity and speed by orders of magnitude. Who knows what capacities the human AI/interfaces will develop in the coming years. We can already see both beneficial and malign effects.

New superpowers are heady stuff, but there are dangers associated with AI besides the obvious losses of jobs and enhanced capacities for deep fakes. For instance, college students writing papers using AI couldn’t remember one sentence of their essay minutes after writing it, were in alpha and theta brain states (associated with creativity) half as much as students writing without AI, and had diminished creative capacities when tested again months later.

AI is here to stay in psychotherapy

I’m sure AI will keep interweaving with psychotherapy and ultimately accelerate the evolution of consciousness.

Already, huge numbers of teens and adults use AI for psychological input and support. These numbers will only grow as the platforms become more complex.

· Two thirds of young U.S. young adults have used AI mental health apps.

· In Germany, 27% of adults reported confiding in a conversational agent (like ChatGPT or Siri) about concerns—some presumably mental health–related

Why not have a near-omniscient AI friend who is programed to support your healthy development? Learning AI/human interface skills will eventually be standard instruction in most schools (where I imagine in-class essay writing will make a big comeback). I strongly suspect that a central part of AI instruction will involve using AI to have better human relationships.

Modern therapy has already become partly about helping people access the best AI for them. My clients and I occasionally access AI during sessions, and I find the ChatGPT responses generally kind and wise. 

The bottom line? The world is rapidly changing and demands that we develop new understandings and skills. AI will both challenge and guide us, accelerating the evolution of consciousness. 

It’s a wild ride! Let’s relax and enjoy it.