A.I., Can You Set Us Free?

Sometimes when I have some time to really think, or just to be present or in the moment for a bit, I find myself feeling somewhat sad about how we've turned out as humans. I think about the insanity of it all. How we spend so many hours a day with our bodies hunched in such a strange position, staring at a piece of technology that is only inches from our face, completely forgetting about the vast world that exists beyond it. Is this what we are meant to be doing? Is this the best use of the human being?

I've heard the expression many times - we have become human doings, not human beings. I think the first time I heard it was from Deepak Chopra. But the other day, I actually really pondered that for a while. We have practically lost almost all the essence of the being of being human. We are endlessly doing doing doing. And we are doing it all faster. Answering emails, checking off things on our to-do lists, grabbing our phones to scroll social media the second we have what would have been a moment to think, getting distracted by various notifications. We spend very little time in nature, very little time being truly present, very little time feeling fully connected with people, with the world, and with ourselves.

We are utterly obsessed with finding more efficient ways of doing things, and we glorify productivity and efficiency and progress above all else.

No wonder the whole world is overwhelmed. No wonder people everywhere are experiencing loneliness, anxiety, stress, depression and burnout. It's because we can't keep up with the pace anymore. Our souls are getting lost. We know, somewhere deep inside us, that something isn't right with this picture.

Perhaps we crave a return to simplicity. We want to connect. We want to explore, we want to move our bodies, we want to feel the ground - in our feet and our hands. We want to laugh, read, write, dream, imagine, create and most importantly, contribute. And we want to be doing these things every day, rather than fighting for them to occupy a pathetic sliver of our time.

Isn't this the essence of what it means to be human? Isn't that what we were truly meant to be doing here? Isn't that why we are alive and conscious?

With the recent boom in AI, I think we're all being forced to remember our value, value that has always been there ... to remember that the part that AI cannot replicate, is the BEING part of being human.

If you take a moment to think about what makes us unique from even the smartest technology, and unique from all other species (as far as we know anyway), it's the fact that we have the capacity to tap into something that's beyond the mind. We are aware.

We are aware of our thoughts. We have a will and a soul that has the ability to override the automaticness of the mind. We have the ability to imagine massive possibilities and manifest them into existence. We have the ability to perceive, and to add meaning to life. We seek a sense of purpose, we come alive through love and connection and understanding. We have extraordinary power that has been suppressed by distraction.

So perhaps we've never even scratched the surface of what we're capable of because we've been so unbelievably stuck in the hamster wheel of progress and productivity. We've completely disconnected from the truest essence of who we are. And if we are able to REconnect. If we can let technology do its thing with the help of AI, then maybe, just maybe we will get back to the stuff of life that really matters.

Maybe we will one day look back at this time and think we were insane to be spending the majority of our lives sitting behind a desk while the world was waiting to be explored, felt, appreciated and understood.

Maybe one day we will see the fullest potential of the human spirit come alive. We will all live in direct alignment with the unique purpose that exists within each of us. We will spend our days using our innate talents, and gifts to make a positive impact on our communities, the environment, and the world at large.

Perhaps this is why AI is really here. To do all the things we should have never been doing in the first place. Forcing us to step away from technology, to stop DOING so much. To free us up to consciously think about who we are, and what we want in this life. To make a difference.

To set us free.