Will psychedelics become more popular in order to compete with AI?

[Jannes]

There is a search of what higher forms of intelligence and creativity are because we need them to compete with AI. Psychedelics give us access to very high forms of intelligence and creativity. Will psychedelics therefore become more popular?

[Yimpa]

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Will psychedelics become more popular in order to compete with AI?

Claude 3 Opus:

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It's an interesting question to consider how the development of AI might impact psychedelic drug use. I can envision a few potential ways the popularity of psychedelics could be affected:

On one hand, as AI becomes more advanced and integrated into society, some people may feel a loss of meaning, purpose or spiritual connection. Psychedelics like psilocybin, LSD, ayahuasca etc. are often used in pursuit of profound mystical experiences, self-exploration, and existential insight. So their use could potentially increase among those seeking to find deeper meaning outside of an AI-dominated world.

Additionally, psychedelic-assisted psychotherapy is an emerging field showing promise for treating depression, PTSD, addiction and other mental health conditions. As the mental health impact of rapid technological change is felt, psychedelic therapy could gain more mainstream acceptance and popularity as a treatment approach.

On the other hand, virtual reality and other immersive AI-enabled technologies might end up replicating some of the perceptual effects and insights of psychedelic trips, but in a more controlled way. This could decrease interest in psychedelics if people can access "digital trips" instead.

It's also worth noting that despite some promising research, psychedelics remain illegal in most contexts. Unless there are major policy changes, that will limit how prevalent their use can become even if interest grows.

Ultimately, while I could see the popularity of psychedelics potentially increasing as a counterbalance to AI, I suspect other factors like legal status, medical potential, and cultural attitudes will play a bigger role in determining their trajectory. The intersection of psychedelics and AI is a fascinating area to contemplate though! Let me know if you have any other thoughts on this.

 

[Jannes]

@Yimpa Can you ask it?: "Okay that's interesting but it's not what I meant with my question. I meant that people might take psychedelics as a training to become more creative and intelligent in order to outsmart AI. What do you think of that?"

[Yimpa]

9 hours ago, Jannes said:

 Can you ask it?: "Okay that's interesting but it's not what I meant with my question. I meant that people might take psychedelics as a training to become more creative and intelligent in order to outsmart AI. What do you think of that?

 

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Ah I see, thanks for clarifying. That's an intriguing idea - using psychedelics as a way to enhance human cognition and creativity in order to keep pace with or surpass AI capabilities. 

There is some evidence that psychedelics can increase divergent thinking, cognitive flexibility, and creative problem-solving, at least in the short-term. For example, a 2018 study found that microdoses of LSD improved convergent and divergent thinking tasks. Other research has linked psychedelic use to increases in the personality trait of openness, which is associated with creativity and intellectual curiosity.

However, the notion of using psychedelics as a competitive cognitive enhancer against AI is highly speculative. While they may offer some benefits, there's no clear evidence that they would be sufficient to close the gap with advanced AI systems that can process information and generate solutions at superhuman levels.

Additionally, even if psychedelics can boost some aspects of creativity and cognition, AI will likely far surpass human intelligence in many domains like raw computational power, data analysis, pattern recognition, etc. Human advantages are more likely to lie in areas like emotional intelligence, abstract reasoning, and ethical judgment.

So in summary, while I think the idea of using psychedelics to augment human cognition is an interesting one, I'm skeptical that they would be a very effective or practical way to outsmart AI, especially as the technology becomes more advanced. Other approaches like brain-computer interfaces, genetic engineering, or AI-assisted intelligence amplification seem more plausible if the goal is to keep up with AI capabilities. But human/AI collaboration is perhaps most promising.

Of course, this is largely conjecture since we can't predict exactly how AI or psychedelics will evolve. What do you think? I'm curious to hear your perspective on using psychedelics to compete with AI!

 

[thenondualtankie]

Once humanity is freed from wage slavery thanks to AI, we will be free to pursue deeper goals. Which probably involves taking psychedelics for many people.

It will indeed be for increasing intelligence, creativity and consciousness, but if we set society up correctly, there'd be no need to 'compete' with the AI. The AI would be satisfying our economic needs while we go out and do better shit.

[Jannes]

@thenondualtankie That would be great!! - but it might take a few decades until this happens idk. I want a decent living until this happens.  

[Razard86]

Psychedelics do not make you smarter, what they do is expand you baseline level of consciousness but you actually have to do the work of contemplation, meditation, and deconstruction. 

It's a tool, think of it more like a temporary enhancer that can create lasting changes but if you don't do any work you will remain mostly the same.