Introspection in the Age of AI

The mind-body relation

Whenever we think of the mind, we should understand that it is a resource that is shared between several living entities. Out of the several thousand thoughts that become images in the mind, only a tiny bit will become something of interest to an individual living entity.  We need to understand the need of the living being from these thought signals which are often buried in noise due to self-imposed conditioning. The living entity has to come to a constitutional position in order to execute this task. This constitutional position is one that of service, one that of love, and one that of purity. The emerging hype around Artificial Intelligence (AI) should be directed in setting the position of the living being along this direction. Beyond writing code for the development of AI, the governments need to formulate policies that look into the ethical practices that keep its progress more welfare motivated.

How to enliven each moment?

The twenty-first century is one that is knowledge-based and self-supervised. In this pedagogical setting ancient modes of knowledge transfer meets with modern technological advancements. We need to acknowledge this interdependence with grace and embellish the descending knowledge tradition with interactive case studies and objective vision.  Our teaching-learning practices should empower and expand rather than demotivate and deteriorate. In this context, our university education system should adopt the work on the 3 C's (i) Cocreate (ii) Collaborate, and (iii) Cooperate.  These values can change the current vacuum in our education where practice does not match theory and the expectation does not meet the market demand. A holistic need-based educational scheme that emphasizes the talents of the youth should be made our top priority. Also, our system has to adopt a bonafide goal-oriented approach rather than seeking temporary pleasures in low-hanging fruits.

Controlling human greed

In the human experience greed is the biggest foe in personal and organizational development. Greed leads to loss of vision for the bonafide goal and develops negative reactions that leave behind unwanted emotional stress.  Feelings of loss and gain are often in tension during events of greed and the thought process broods over unnecessary whimsical needs. It is strongly believed that AI companions are the best fit to remove the influence of greed and shift the human mindset to be directed more towards growth and learning. AI developers and software engineers can generate a regret-reward system to incentivize in creating an ecosystem that prevents individuals from harming themselves from the menace of greed. Modern AI-based language tools should enable the users to tone down the greedy segments through sentence or speech corrections.  

We are self-learners

The interesting feature of the human experience is in his ability to adapt to change and also to learn by himself or herself. The self-learning aspect benefits in achieving a long-term vision of happiness, wealth, and wisdom. The AI revolution brings along with it ample opportunities for lifelong learning coupled with happiness and fun. AI can be a companion in providing assistance and feedback immediately. This human-in-the-loop model will surely enable us in making this world a suitable and better place.

Let every living being be in a state of bliss - (सर्वे भवन्तुः  सुखिनः )

KAIZAN - The key to continuous improvement

In my quest for the ideal template for an entrepreneur, I hit across the Japanese term "KAIZAN" which meant continuous improvement. There is something inherent in every living being that persists across all odds. Just like ants that stock food for the winter, I was thinking the pandemic is a good excuse to understand the intricacies in the mind of an entrepreneur. I came from a science and math background which was traditionally thought to have no connection with business or sales. So my knowledge at the beginning was very sparse and could not even connect the mode of thinking generally unseen in a typical scientist or mathematician. However, the notion of social responsibility had been quite strong in me at this time, because I had an urge to contribute to the social good. My knowledge was really blunted because I did not have any remote expertise in the matter of finance. I thought that any marginal attempt without an idea into the financial model is doomed to end up in the dustbin. At this time I was motivated by a friend, who explained that the key asset for an entrepreneur is not money, but a broad mind that is full of ideas. I too believed in this and started learning how to develop an entrepreneurial mindset. In the meantime, my Ph.D. was going in full swing and I was finding it difficult to sustain myself because my scholarship had ended. I needed an innovative mechanism to keep myself afloat.  

A few weeks into the pandemic I got a call for a consulting position with an upcoming EdTech. I chose it without much hesitation, as I had a keen observation of education and the educational system. As I began my consultancy tenure it came upon me that even an educator should be an innovator and entrepreneur. Especially in the online education medium, an educator has to invest time and energy to constantly rise to the expectation of the learners. I started observing that the key requirement for online classes is not content, but was curation. Just like a sculptor curates a statue, an educator has the role to curate the thinking patterns in the learners. My reading of the book on Kaizan kept me motivated in my new assignment and I started experiencing the fact that everyone should become an entrepreneur. Some of my key learnings are discussed below:

 Success is moving from one failure to another failure

In reality we have neither success nor failure. The notion of success and failure are interpretations of the mind. The policy of an entrepreneur has to be lifelong learning. Everyone has to experience failure, this is a fact. Only thing that we have to come in terms is the response to the failure. It is best to ask yourself "what I can learn from this failure?" instead of locking failure with your ego search "why the failure occurs to me alone?". It is to be known that falling is a sign of learning. Unless one embrace failure, one cannot elevate the mind to the level of an entrepreneur. We have be cognizant of the fact that the only constant thing is change. By embracing failure, we learn to adapt in the direction change and also help ourself to develop a broad mindset.   

 Thinking big and starting small

An entrepreneur should develop a mindset to think big and dream big. But for the dream to translate to practice we should be smart to start small. Starting small will douse the elements of ego and pride which otherwise will be deterrant to the development of a broad mindset.  We should wisely follow the SMART goals paradigm- i.e. Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Realistic and Time-bound. This training of starting small keeps ourself grounded and commited to our goal. Only experience is able to teach us how to set SMART goals. One might fall in the beginning, but if we can pick something when we fall, that will be a huge benefit for the growth of the person. There is something more that a failure can teach than the pleasure a success can give. This will be a huge motivation for embracing failures as we encounter.

Hear before you speak

Entrepreneurship often sketch a wrong picture that he/she has to be bossy towards the subordinates. However, this is a false illusion. Our position should be that of a servant, whether you are a manager or labourer in the factory. An entrepreneur should be submissive and should not create unreasonable hierarchy to satisfy his/her personal ego. Our ancient vedic scriptures is based on the principle of shruti, which emphasize the art of hearing and listening. It makes a lot of sense because only by hearing we can learn the feelings of the person talking opposite to us. Also listening first gives the chance to think before we respond. Giving a response is far better than aimlessly reacting by succumbing to ones anger and ignorance.

Need for documenting your experience

As it was emphasized earlier, the key to success is the ability to embrace failures and to learn by doing.  Documentation is much more important in this new world order because written communication is much more clearer than any other modes of knowledge transfer.  In the Japanese culture the principle of documentation is strongly embedded and this is one of the reasons for the high standards visible in some of Japanese products. Researchers should specifically implement seamless documentation to clear pathways for early adoption of technology.

Staying detached during work

A key principle to excel in work is to develop the aspect of detachment. Once again Indian cultural roots point to this timeless principle that a doer should be virtuous by being equipoised to failure or success and should let go off any attachment to the fruits of action. This philosophy is one of the key pillars to any successful enterprise or mission. A servant should not be concerned so much about his/her personal comfort, instead he/she should be steadfast on the service-oriented activities. Staying detached may also be helpful to avoid over endevouring, which can impact health and cleanliness of mind. In particular, the entrepreneur should act in goodness for the welfare of the larger section of the employees. 

Developing Tiny Habits

In this era of microprocessors, it is also important to plant tiny habits that can later bear fruits of job-satisfaction and personel health.  It is always wise to keep a "Me Hour" where the individual can contemplate on entrepreneurial journey by using measurable tools. In the "Me Hour",  there should not be any interference from anyone including checking the phone. Such a habit is of immense help to boost self-care and self-love and also stimulates clear and compassionate decisions. Any habit practiced for 21 days stays for a lifetime, and that which is practiced for at least 90 days becomes our lifestyle. Entrepreneurs should be role models by investing time to cultivate noble habits.

Mentors and teachers are pivotal in the journey of life. Every entrepreneur should build a strong platform to facilitate continuous improvement through Kaizen.