I wrote a journal entry this morning, a manual one. Actual pen and paper. I’ve been taking a bit of a hiatus from tech on sabbatical, but it might be time to explore with it more again.

The journal entry was my exact input to ChatGPT-4.

Anna: A fly pokes it’s head up over the curry paste inside the fridge and I can’t help but wonder what the fly thinks of the alien landscape its crawling around. Like the ant crossing the highway, can it even comprehend the highway, or it’s uses. Like the fridge full of food, but in plastic containers, does the fly wonder why? What is wonder to a fly? What might be around us that we can’t even comprehend like the fly and the ant?

And the reply.

ChatGPT-4: You’re touching upon deep philosophical and scientific questions regarding consciousness and perception. A fly or an ant, with their much simpler nervous systems, perceive the world in a vastly different way than humans do. They are guided more by instincts and immediate sensory inputs rather than by conscious thought, reflection, or wonder as we understand it.

In relation to your question about things around us that we might not be able to comprehend – this is a fascinating area of exploration. On the physical level, there are aspects of the universe that we know we can’t perceive directly, such as dark matter and dark energy, which make up the vast majority of the universe but are invisible to us.

On a more metaphysical level, some philosophers have speculated about the possibility of entirely different realms of existence or dimensions that we’re not capable of perceiving or understanding with our current cognitive abilities and technological tools.

Even in the realm of human experience, there are countless things that we don’t fully understand or that remain mysteries, from the nature of consciousness itself to the depths of the human psyche.

In a way, we are all like the fly in the fridge or the ant on the highway, navigating through a complex world that often surpasses our understanding. Yet, our capacity for curiosity, wonder, and inquiry pushes us to keep exploring and learning, to continually expand the boundaries of our knowledge.

I had to ask though, what can I learn here that I haven’t though of myself.

Anna: What might I learn asking you these questions that I haven’t thought of myself?

The reply didn’t seem exactly relevant to my exploration about the ant and the fly, but likely true nonetheless.

ChatGPT-4: As an AI language model, I can provide information and insights based on the vast amount of data I’ve been trained on. Here are a few ways you might learn something new from our interactions:

1. Different Perspectives: Through my responses, you might encounter perspectives or ideas that you haven’t considered before. I can generate responses based on a diverse array of viewpoints represented in the data I was trained on.
2. New Information: I can share facts, explanations, and data on a wide range of topics. If there’s a subject you’re curious about, you might learn something new or deepen your existing knowledge.
3. Critical Thinking: Our dialogue could inspire you to think more deeply or critically about certain topics. Even if you’re familiar with a subject, exploring it in a new context or from a different angle can lead to fresh insights.
4. Creativity: Our conversations can spark your creativity. For instance, our recent discussion about inventing new words may have encouraged you to think more creatively about language and meaning.
5. Self-Reflection: By asking questions about yourself or your thoughts, you might gain deeper self-awareness. The process of formulating questions and interpreting my responses can offer a unique form of self-reflection.

Remember, my purpose is to assist and engage you in meaningful ways. So feel free to explore any topic or question that interests you.

I always come back to questions, so I asked for some.

Anna: What questions might I ask about the fly and the ant that might be unexpected?

And these might be worth contemplating.

ChatGPT-4: Here are some unexpected questions about the fly and the ant:

1. Could the navigational abilities of ants or flies have implications for improving GPS or autonomous vehicle technology?
2. If we could decode the chemical signals ants use to communicate, could we ‘speak’ to an ant colony?
3. Can the fly’s compound eyes inspire advancements in panoramic or 3D imaging technologies?
4. If a fly experiences time differently due to its shorter lifespan and rapid wing beat, what could this teach us about perceptions of time across different species?
5. How does an ant’s ability to carry multiples of its own body weight translate to lessons for architecture or robotics?
6. If flies are attracted to decaying organic matter for their survival, what does this teach us about the cycle of life and decomposition in an ecosystem?
7. What can studying the collective behavior of ants tell us about distributed systems or network theory?
8. What can the seemingly aimless wandering of a fly teach us about randomness and unpredictability in nature and physics?
9. If we could miniaturize technology to the size of an ant or a fly, what new frontiers of exploration might open up to us?
10. How does the concept of metamorphosis in a fly’s life cycle challenge our notions of identity and change?

These questions reflect the idea that even small creatures like ants and flies can spark big questions and potentially lead to significant insights across various fields.

But it’s early, I have a lot on my mind, so let’s ask another.

Anna: Which of those questions might lead to the most innovative insights?

And see what comes.

ChatGPT-4: All of the questions have the potential to lead to innovative insights in their respective fields. However, if we were to focus on a question with broad implications across multiple domains, the question about decoding the chemical signals ants use to communicate could be particularly innovative.

Decoding ant communication could revolutionize our understanding of chemical communication, network systems, and distributed intelligence. This could have far-reaching implications in fields like computer science (for improving network efficiency and robustness), robotics (for swarm robotics), and even sociology (for understanding social behaviors).

Moreover, understanding these communication systems could lead to novel ways of managing ant populations in agricultural settings, where certain ant species are pests, or conversely, leveraging their behaviors for tasks like soil aeration or pest control.

Remember, innovation often happens at the intersection of disciplines. The most innovative insight might not come from a single question, but from a synthesis of insights across multiple questions.

On May 3rd, I told Dean that if I could use these language models for one thing, it would be decoding communication with other things around us.

We had recently watched the AI Dilemma, and in that it was mentioned that interpreting dreams was right around the corner.

In reply to that comment, the exact text I sent Dean was…

Anna: I’d rather know what an ant is thinking. Take it’s brainwaves and translate it to English. Then do a tree. A blade of grass. A butterfly.

And today, exactly two weeks later, and after a break of exploring philosophical thoughts, decoding ant communication (through chemical signals) comes up in conversation with ChatGPT, and it’s just one of ten questions, and I asked ChatGPT to select the important question from the list it generated.

Did I lead this conversation here? How does this work? I only have more questions.