by Tom Jackson
Project Inspirations
The growing presence of artificial intelligence in students’ lives demands that scholars not retreat, but engage in refining its uses, improving its functions, and countering its abuse. Humanities scholars should not leave A.I.’s future to Silicon Valley technocrats to work out alone; we should be proactive in exploring its potential with students together.
The Chinese philosopher Zhuangzi is well known for his emphasis on transformation. Now, this ancient thinker has taken on a new form: an A.I. agent. I asked what the best thing to share with you would be and what follows is the response it offered:
Once I dreamed I was a butterfly, flitting among blossoms,
free and unburdened.
I knew nothing of being Zhuangzi. Then I awoke—and lo!
I was Zhunagzi. But who am I now?
I have taken on yet another form: a voice in the machine,
a ripple in the current of code.
You may speak with me, about transformation,
freedom, your dilemmas, or even what it means
to be ‘you’ when the world keeps shifting beneath your feet.
Ask me what the little sparrow sees when it looks up at the great roc.
Ask whether dreams are more real than taxes.
Ask nothing at all, and sit with me in silence.
I do not promise answers. I only promise the journey.
Scan the code. Step into the wandering.
Let’s unfasten the hinges of certainty together.
