What is Human Experience Now in the Age of AI?
The techno-sapien condition is in full bloom.
“To understand the real world implications of AI, we must understand how AI algorithms learn, decide, and act. Only then can we ensure that AI evolves in ways that benefit humanity as a whole.” — Max Tegmark, Life 3.0: Being Human in the Age of Artificial Intelligence.
Let’s reflect a bit. The year is 2024, and humanity has evolved beyond the point of no return. Generative AI and tools like ChatGPT completely surprised the entire world last year, and in ways, I think most of us didn’t see coming… but maybe we should have. We are part of a global community and network of operations that connect but also control our everyday activity, proximity, and engagement with things in the world. Digital products have fused into every facet of our daily lives, giving us the power to construct whatever context about a topic we desire. The human experience, digitally, physically, and mentally, is now fully commoditized. We are all now the architects of our own reality. That’s a scary thing when you think about it, which I have thought about a lot.
As a former architectural designer and researcher turned product owner, I know firsthand that designing our built environment to improve the human experience involves considering the shape and co-existence of THINGS in our physical world. We obsess over details like what material to use, the scale of things to people, how people might experience those things, how a building can fit within the context of the city, how it can be made sustainably, and, of course, whether or not it will stand up.
In architecture, we contemplate everything from the largest implications to civilization, like the impact on our social and urban fabrics, down to the tiniest detail of how materials co-exist to keep people safe while inspiring them to engage with the environment around them. It’s hard to do well, but we must because people’s lives are at stake if we get it wrong.
So, now, as a Fusionist and Product Manager, when I help build our digital environment to improve the human experience, I’m deeply curious about how technology affects us, why it’s able to do so with so much influence, and how we might find a humane coexistence with future technology. It’s had me asking many big questions and diving deeper into the implications of our “always-on” culture on a global scale.
So, what is influencing our Human Experience?
“The Net seizes our attention only to scatter it. We focus intensively on the medium itself, on the flickering screen, but we’re distracted by the constant flow of competing messages and information.” — Nicholas Carr, The Shallows: What the Internet Is Doing to Our Brains
The first thing I uncovered is that this global network has forced humans to evolve from homo-sapiens into techno-sapiens, a term that signifies our deep entwinement with technology that is taking over our everyday activities, interactions, and, dare I say, our very survival. I call this the Techno-Sapien Condition, and navigating it is a whole new challenge that our brains apparently don’t want to do, where our content is much less reliable or trustworthy, and while we have more access, we have less autonomy.
The second thing I uncovered is that our communities and society are SHAPE-shifting from relatively simple, in-person, spatially defined groups to vast, boundless digital networks. Social media is a prime example, directly affecting modern human behavior and perception. Some challenges arise with increased connectivity and reliance on mobile-first, such as privacy concerns, cyberbullying and online harassment, and the erosion of face-to-face communication. As we stay plugged into this hypercomplex network, we oversimplify what we should remember and focus on the outlier instead of the norm, changing our perception of who and what we should believe. More on this is coming soon, so follow me if you’re interested.
The third thing I uncovered is that most of us lack the mental tools to maintain an objective perspective despite being connected to more information than any generation before us. It’s much harder to do in general, but our digital content stream constantly yells at us what we should believe, and at a volume and scale, we’re NOT psychologically ready to handle. This led me to consider what I could do to fight back and take back some control for myself. In other words…
Given our entangled dependence on large technology networks, how can we ensure the future implications of technology we build today will enhance rather than harm the techno-sapien condition of tomorrow?
To even attempt to answer this question, we must start with understanding technology at the human scale to grasp what it means for products to be scaled to us and how we might categorize “humanness” in digital products. Then, we can examine technology’s impact on the techno-sapien condition to see how we might understand how tools like AI will affect human perception and why it’s important for digital product engineering teams. Lastly, I have a novel approach, called the SHAPE Map, that outlines an approach for how we can better navigate this techno-sapien condition together. It’s designed to give anyone a broader understanding of the human experience about any topic.
After all…
“The broader one’s understanding of the human experience, the better design we will have,” — Steve Jobs.
As I continue through this sense-making journey, I will share examples of how I’m using the SHAPE Map to understand entire systems of enterprise, social interaction, and technology’s large impact on all of us. I’m interested in how we might understand possibly the broadest of human experiences and why it matters more today for us to keep this in mind while building the tech of tomorrow that enhances, and not harms, our techno-sapien condition.
So, what can we do to align the tech we build today with a more humane relationship tomorrow?
“Good design starts with an understanding of psychology and technology. Good designers want to make sure their designs fit the needs and capabilities of their users.” — Don Norman, The Design of Everyday Things
As AI advances, these mental tools become even more essential. AI amplifies the information influx, making understanding the context and implications of what we encounter critical. Embracing tools like the SHAPE Map empowers us to navigate our technologically infused world with greater awareness and vigilance.
To my colleagues in technology, we must shift our focus. Designing digital products demands a holistic approach, considering not just individual needs but the broader societal, global, and existential implications. In doing so, we can develop sustainable solutions that serve humanity’s needs while promoting the well-being of our interconnected world.
To sum up, as we evolve technologically, our cognitive tools must also evolve. By understanding and utilizing frameworks like the SHAPE Map and Ripple Detection, we can better navigate the complexities of our digital era, ensuring that our technological advancements enhance, rather than overwhelm, our human experience.
I sincerely thank you for your interest and encourage you to follow me here on Medium. I am curious if anyone else is as interested in this as I am, so for more conversation, connect with me in the comments on any thoughts this may have inspired.
Stay vigilant my friends. Cheers!
