AI has reached our daily lives. We access it through our screens. We can ask simple and complex questions. It will always answer. It is there 24/7. It becomes our companion. Its language is kind. We easily think of it as a caring person. And without noticing, we think less ourselves. We just ask the AI and follow its lead.
A GPS gets you anywhere. After ten years, you no longer know your own city.
Let me give you an example from my own work. When I write a blogpost, I do my research with books, with my experience, and also with the help of AI. AI could write the blogpost within seconds. But then the work begins. I look at what AI has produced, and then I write the blogpost myself, completely. That seems a bit crazy, because the blogpost created by AI is probably better than what I can do myself. But is it really? At first, it is fascinatingly good. But after reading it a few times, it feels empty. The words and sentences are not mine. They are without soul. There is no deeper common thread in it, no life, no energy.
Is that what we want to become: a human following the leadership of AI? I do not want this. But how can we be fully human in the age of AI? I will try to give some suggestions here.
AI weakens our ability to judge and give meaning
By asking AI more and more of our questions and by too easily taking the answers as the truth, we weaken our ability to judge and give meaning. It is like a muscle: a muscle grows through training and resistance. Therefore, we need to train, consciously and at will, our ability to judge and to give meaning to life and work.
For this it is helpful to ask the question, maybe write it down (not to AI, but on paper), and then live with it for a while. Do not seek solutions too fast. Let the question grow. Include feeling, include your own experience and the experience of others. Read wisdom texts, like the Bible or the Tao Te Ching. Or read biographies of people you admire. Get inspired. And then, over time, find the right answer to your question.
When asking AI, slow down and reflect on the answer. Meaning cannot be computed. Meaning arises when you connect something to your own life, your values, your goals and your destiny. AI gives average answers from everyone’s data. If we let it choose for us, life becomes efficient - but empty.
Keep a healthy distance from AI in daily use
AI is a machine with no feelings. Do not forget this, because its language is kind and full of simulated feelings. But it is still a machine running on zeros and ones. When using AI, try to stay in touch with your body. Keep sensing it. Be mindful. Before you open the AI chat window, pause, breathe a little, slow down, then type your question. When you see the machine’s answer, reflect on it. Sense your body, your feelings. Give it your own meaning. Make it your own – just as I do when I rewrite every blogpost myself.
Being human and creating harmony in your soul
The inner work of creating harmony begins with thinking. Train your ability to focus on a set of thoughts for a longer time. Do not let yourself get distracted. Do the deep work necessary. Create stillness around you. Look and listen carefully. Make your perceptions as pure and truthful as possible. Then see what concepts arrive in your thinking. Perception and concept together create this feeling of understanding and meaning. If you can say, “I got it, now I understand,” then you have created a truth for yourself, which is then also relevant for others.
This experience of understanding, of meaning and sense, is only possible when feeling is involved. Our feelings are often chaotic; then we can speak of emotions. Lower emotions like fear, anger and frustration drag your energy down. But we can choose higher-energy feelings like courage, neutrality, appreciation, gratitude, love and peace. And with those higher-energy feelings our perception is more pure, the concept arriving to the percept is more truthful, and the understanding of what you see becomes a real experience.
Gratitude is the fastest road from thinking to feeling, from brain to heart.
Willing is the most hidden force within our soul. It is very close to our “I”. You can train your willing by choosing something unimportant, like raising your index finger three times at a certain time of the day. Try it out. If successful, it gives you energy and satisfaction. You gain more trust in your willing. Willing is the intention which then leads to action.
The “I”, your “I”, is the one who does all this. The “I” must become the leader within your soul. It must be the conductor, the director, the captain of thinking, feeling and willing. That leads to more harmony within your soul. And that leads to better decision-making and action.
The heart as the master organ of the human being
Did you know that the heart sends more information to the brain than the other way around? According to the HeartMath Institute, the heart is not only a pump but also an organ of perception. I experience it as the organ that connects us with each other, with the earth and with the cosmos. HeartMath’s intuition research even suggests that the heart may sense the future.
Through directing our breath, we can influence our heart rhythm. We humans can do this consciously, out of free will: breathe a little slower and create coherence between heart and brain. HeartMath research suggests that in coherence we are more in flow, our perception and decision-making improve, and even our immune system may benefit. We come to better judgements. We listen better. We hear more.
Coherence is a key ingredient for creating harmonious teams and organizations that aim for high performance. It strengthens the resilience of each of us. In coherence we are better able to do the right thing at the right moment.
Quick Coherence Technique (HeartMath.org)
The Quick Coherence exercise helps us get into that state at any moment of the day. You can use it for instance shortly before a difficult meeting, or at home before a conversation with your spouse or kids. It takes about one minute and goes like this:
Step 1: Heart-focused breathing. Bring your attention to the area of your heart. Imagine your breath flowing in and out through your heart or chest area. Breathe a little slower and deeper than usual. Find a rhythm that feels comfortable.
Step 2: Activate a renewing feeling. While you keep breathing this way, try sincerely to feel appreciation or care. Think of a person, a pet, a place or a moment you are grateful for, and stay with that feeling for a while. It must be a real feeling, not only a thought.
Become the leader you want to be
We are all leaders within our circle of influence. This circle may be small or big. It does not matter. The struggles we see in the world reflect our own struggles. Think for a moment: Are you good with your spouse and with your kids? Are you good with your parents? Are you a good person at work? Probably there is still work to do – at least in my case there is. Let’s first work on these and then go back to the bigger challenges outside of us. Or do it in parallel.
Become the leader you want to be. Be present and loving. Use AI as a tool but keep control of your own destiny.
Kind regards,
Alexander Schwedeler
