Having an A.I. augmented second brain

(The article is written by Yenson She)

Second Brain - a methodology to organise information

A Second Brain is a concept that has been gaining traction and popularity amongst those who are passionate about learning, particularly within the tech industry. The core idea of a second brain is to store, organise, and present information, such a methodology enables us to create a digital system of files to expand our intellect and memory. From sketching a mind map on paper to jotting down quotes from books on the note-taking app (I use OneNote) can be seen as the first step to capturing ideas and information to build our second brain.?

Organising our ideas ain't easy

After capturing ideas and information, the next step is organising and making sense of our notes. However, the organisation can often be a difficult undertaking, especially when it comes to collecting information with no particular purpose in mind. We may take note of interesting facts and ideas that could prove useful in the near future, yet we often find ourselves unable to recall this data later on. Even more difficult is organising personal knowledge, reflections and emotions into a comprehensible structure. We may have attempted to improve this process with different tags, hierarchies and other forms of organisation, however, these systems often fail when we forget the established tags or the linkages between ideas. As a result, it could be a waste of time and not make much use of the ideas and information that we had captured.?

A.I. boosted Second Brain

Artificial Intelligence is accelerating the development of our second brains' and providing us with a means to contextualise our ideas and thoughts. Generative Pre-trained Transformer (GPT) is an AI program trained using large data sets of text, such as books or articles, which enables it to understand language structures and how words and phrases are used together. This can then be used to generate new text by providing a prompt. AI-enabled note-taking apps can also use GPT to automate the capturing of information from non-textual formats, such as voice recordings or pictures. The notes that are generated can then be taxonomised, or tagged with keywords to make them easier to find and categorise. AI can also help in linking notes together, so that information is presented in an optimal form under the right context. In this way, AI could be used to augment our second brains and make them a lot more effective at storing and retrieving information.?

Advancing our lives with an A.I.?

Remembering is a crucial cognitive ability that enables us to integrate information from our past with the knowledge and understanding we have today. Both philosophers and cognitive scientists have been identifying the relationship between memory, truth, knowledge, and personal identity. We know that memories can be unreliable; they are often influenced by current beliefs, emotions, biases, and social contexts. However, by embracing AI and living an examined life, we can boost up our second brains and gain a better understanding of ourselves. Our memories will no longer be merely reconstructions of the past – with AI as our guide, it will help us explore our mental models, examine different perspectives on life events, and come up with new ideas that allow us to become a better version of ourselves.

(This article has referenced and got inspirations from Simon L.)