What Makes Us Human: An Artificial Intelligence Answers Life's Biggest Questions

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Why are we here What does it mean to love How do we overcome suffering Why do we feel so alone Is happiness truly possible For thousands of years, humanity has turned to the same sacred texts to explore these universal questions-from the Bible and the Tao Te Ching, to the poetry of Rumi and Sappho, to modern-day mystics. What if you could take all of the wisdom contained within these collective pages and, using the world's most advanced artificial intelligence, receive the answers Thanks to OpenAI, a nonprofit research lab cofounded by Elon Musk and other tech luminaries, this is now possible. OpenAI's mission is to ensure that artificial intelligence serves the betterment of humanity-and What Makes Us Human offers an innovative exploration of AI's potential in this realm. To create this first-of-its-kind book, international bestselling poet Iain S. Thomas and prodigious researcher and innovator Jasmine Wang collaborated with OpenAI's GPT-3, an advanced artificial intelligence. Wang and Thomas prompted GPT-3 with thousands of humanity's greatest texts, and then asked GPT-3 our most pressing questions. Contained in this book are the conversations and exchanges that followed. A bold, daring experiment, What Makes Us Human is a contemporary exploration of spirituality that will inspire a new understanding of what makes us humans, humans.

Reviews

"utterly compelling and provocative, and cannot but be full of wisdom." --Lion's Roar

"surprising and refreshing wisdom here. It is a most interesting collaboration." --Spirituality & Practice

"This profoundly illuminating text on where we stand in the great arc of artificial intelligence is stunningly beautiful and inspired. A touching, nuanced, and beautiful reverie of poetic collaboration." --BT, GRAMMY(R)-nominated musician and technologist

"Iain S. Thomas and Jasmine Wang have striven to garner advice from a robot brain, expecting to receive mechanized platitudes--and yet these writers discover the soulfulness of a wise poet, who might someday walk beside us, perhaps even sprinting past us, on our hike up the slopes of Parnassus." --Christian Bk, experimental poet, author of Eunoia, and Griffin Poetry Prize winner

Author Bio

Iain S. Thomas is an internationally bestselling author and one of the world's most popular poets. He lives with his family just outside of New York City. Jasmine Wang is a technologist, philosopher, researcher, and 2020 Thiel Fellow. She lives in Montreal. GPT-3 is an artificial intelligence developed by OpenAI, a billion-dollar-funded research lab founded by Elon Musk to promote the use of AI for the betterment of all humankind. For more, visit jasminew.me and iainsthomas.com.