AI: The Revolution You Cannot Miss
Questioner: Namaste Acharya Ji. I am Mayank. I am from Mumbai, and I work in the financial services industry. And my question is around artificial intelligence. So, with the rise of artificial intelligence, one of the patterns that we're seeing is that power and wealth are getting concentrated in very few hands, and this is accelerating inequality. This could also push society towards unrest and even anarchy. In such a scenario, how should one see the entire development from the lens of true wisdom? That's my first question.
I have another question, which focuses on what would be the right response of a conscious individual to such a world wherein technology is growing rapidly, but inner clarity is declining.
Acharya Prashant: AI is a special phenomenon. See, we often say, "Facts are the door to truth." The kind of exposure and knowledge that AI puts in the hands of the common man today is unprecedented, and that has to be used.
Yes, what you are saying is very right. Power is getting concentrated in fewer hands. So is wealth. But AI is a huge opportunity.
OpenAI's Sam Altman, rolling out GPT-5, said something which is indeed factual. He said, "Never in history has the common man been so empowered.” And knowledge is the biggest power you can have. He went on to say something like, "Now in your pocket, you have PhDs at your disposal," something to that effect. Any subject, anything, and you can consult and know. Historically, one of the biggest contributors to inequality has been the lack of access to knowledge, and AI is at least potentially taking care of that.
You have a friend in your pocket. You have a friend in your palm. You can ask anything. Just think of the colossal impact possible, provided it is used rightly by each of us. There are so many things that you would almost certainly never come to know in your life if not for AI. And there is a little bit of diversity, choice, you can say democratization available, because you don't really have to depend on one model. If you're not certain of the answer, you can cross-check with something else. You can go to Gemini, you go to Co-pilot, you go somewhere else and pick up whatever you want to know. And we have to appreciate the kind of power and enfranchisement that knowledge brings.
What does the ordinary person — a farmer, a girl, a housewife in a small town or a village of India, know? But the smartphone is ubiquitous, and a lot of the AI models, the chatbots, they are still free or at a very nominal price, and you can ask anything. And you don't have to be constrained by language either, right?
It could be broken English or your mother tongue, AI supports vernacular, and it would understand, being at least artificially intelligent. It would understand what you want to ask, or it would seek to clarify from you. "Is this what you want to know? Is this what you want to know?" So, it handholds, and it's wonderful. Think of it. Such a thing has never, never been available to mankind in its history. And
Those who are missing out on AI are doing themselves a great disservice. They will meet extinction. They'll be fossilized.
You see, when you wanted to keep a section of the population back in history, what would you do? You deprive them of learning. Today it's a miraculous thing. You don't have to go to a place. You don't have to enroll into a course. Just say you want to learn, and you can learn anything at your pace, in your own way, at a time of your choice. And there's not much that you are paying. All kinds of lies can be called out. All kinds of superstitions can be debunked; you just have to ask, "Yes, please tell," and it'll tell you the facts of everything.
You could not study modern physics because you opted for commerce in your class 11th, and now you are a professional in the finance field or accountancy or somewhere. Great opportunity for you. Here's your chance to study modern physics in your own way.
I want everybody to be very, very conversant with this new tool and take it very seriously, yet play with it as one does with a toy, in the sense of experimentation.
You must know what it is capable of, and then you must put it to the best use possible. The more you explore it, the more you discover what it can do. It is the beginning of a new kind of sentience. I take it as a big step in the process of human evolution.
We too are just material beings, right? What we call the soul within is just a superstition. It is a particular configuration of material that shines as consciousness, or at least personal consciousness. Similarly, AI is material, no doubt. But to the extent we call ourselves sentient, AI too soon can be called sentient. AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) is not too far away. So, this has to be taken as an evolutionary step that we have come to. If you miss out on it, you are missing out on history.
Yes, we fully agree that those who control technology and those who control capital, they are the ones who rule the world. But then, one of the things that the rulers have historically very carefully controlled is information, knowledge. So that's where I see a clear break from the past. They'll not be able to control information now. Not just information. This is not just the Google search engine, where all you have is information. This is information consciously curated as a solution. Right?
Yes, technology is power, and capital is power, but bigger than any other power is the power of knowledge.
And if that power will be devolved into the hands of the common man, then miracles are possible. Think of all the evils that we suffer from. Don't they come from the false beliefs we carry? All wisdom literature aimed at liberating the individual is essentially an effort to clear away false beliefs. And what better way to check your beliefs than by putting them to the test on the cornerstone of facts themselves.
AI is the litmus test. It is the touchstone. You believe in something, go test it. You think you have written a great piece, go test. If you think your traditional value system is wonderful, go test it. I'm not saying what you will get is the veritable Truth itself, but chances are, what you will get will be way better than what you currently already believe in. So, it'll be a giant leap forward.
I’ll want all members of our Gita community to be very, very conversant with AI, and that doesn't need you to enroll into some fancy course. Just download the apps and start using them. It's very intuitive. You'll become very good with practice. In fact, how best to use AI — that too can be a question that AI can best answer. Download and ask, "How do I use you?" Or, in your native language,tumhara istemal kaise karen? it will take you through.
Don't miss out on the opportunity. It's very, very important. Maybe you missed the industrial revolution. Maybe you missed the internet revolution. We are at the beginning of another revolution, and probably a bigger revolution than the ones we have seen in history. Don't miss out on this one, because if you miss out, there are others who won't — and knowledge is power. Go there, inquire, check, cross-check, verify, and don't hesitate in putting yourself to the test.
It's not just about gathering information about this and that, all and sundry. Human beings are walking storehouses of beliefs. Scrutinize each one of them. We take decisions every day, don't we? Consult AI. Obviously, you don't have to accept, but there's a great chance you'll get a fresh perspective, and that's a very, very big thing.
What else is liberation? It's a dismantling of the envelope that secures you. It's breaking out from your usual shell.
Don't go there just to know more. Go there to test what you already think you know. That's more important. We cannot control what the rich ones are doing, can we? We can complain. We can crib. We can regret. We can caution. But they'll do what they have to do. The powerful ones, they'll take their own course. Let us do what we can.
Let's use it to the greatest advantage possible. And that also means do not go for frivolous uses. One, it wastes your time. Secondly, it will load you with unnecessary information. Thirdly, AI is very energy-intensive and has a significant carbon footprint.
So, every nonsensical or trivial question that you ask chat, or matter you consult any language model on, leads to a waste of resources. And there is a certain carbon footprint associated with that. So, be careful when you are dealing with this very powerful new toy.
Questioner: I think that was it. Thank you, Acharya ji.
Acharya Prashant: Welcome.
