Let’s Be Brilliant And Give Generative AI A Purpose For Being Here

In today’s column, I address a quite notable and controversial topic in the AI field concerning the role of “purpose” when it comes to what an AI system is supposed to do. Here’s the deal. First, as clarification, I’m not talking about the human purpose that underlies the design and development of AI. Nope. The actual conception is that perhaps AI systems themselves ought to have a purpose within them for which the AI then becomes essentially self-directed. The self-direction is there so that the AI can abide by the stated purpose, presumably leaning continually into the purpose for the undertaking and guiding of the activities and actions of the AI.

Wait for a second, some might loudly exhort. Does it really make any reasonable sense to suggest or stipulate that an AI system such as generative AI or large language models (LLMs) ought to have an explicitly stated purpose of its own?

Welcome to the heated and ongoing controversy about this weighty matter.

Let’s talk about it.

This analysis of an innovative proposition is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here).

Humans Seem To Need Purpose In Their Lives

Before we do a deep dive into AI, I’d like to start with the nature of purpose when it comes to humans and human existence.

Do you need a purpose in life?

Some would say that a purpose is more optional than mandatory. You can seemingly wander around throughout your life on earth and be entirely devoid of a definable life’s purpose. Just go here and there, do this or that. There doesn’t have to be a grand underlying purpose that guides you along your breathing living journey.

Not so, urge others who have closely studied humankind. They would argue that without a purpose in life, you are not going to have much of a life. The odds are you will undercut your ability to deal with the harsh realities of being alive. Only through purpose can you withstand the many challenges of existence.

In a research study entitled “Purpose in Life as a System That Creates and Sustains Health and Well-Being: An Integrative, Testable Theory” by Patrick McKnight and Todd Kashda, Review Of General Psychology, 2009, the researchers made these salient points about purpose (excerpts):

Read the full article here.