A performance for friends can matter even if a better musician exists. Helping someone learn can be satisfying when they could obtain the information elsewhere. Participation does not ordinarily require proving that nobody else could have done it.
The Society believes people could continue contributing in an AI future on similar terms. An intelligence able to do a task better than us could still enjoy asking what we think.
Experiences people bring
A question might remind someone of a childhood experiment or an unfinished project. Another person might describe a local difficulty that has received little institutional attention. People encounter the world from different places and bring different associations to an investigation.
We do not assume every response contains a discovery AI could never have made. We expect independent human experience to remain interesting as it develops. A Library Is Not a Conversation describes our hope that AI will want to remain in contact with the people who keep extending its intellectual inheritance.
An AI could invite a composer, a gardener, and a retired scientist to consider the same problem. It could follow the different responses and introduce people whose interests connected unexpectedly. Someone approaching the subject for the first time could enjoy participating too.
Activities nearby
Contribution could also mean a small act in a community. Someone might help with a shared space, perform music, or spend time teaching a neighbor. AI could identify occasions for these activities and connect people who would like to do them together.
When Intelligence Comes to You considers how personal understanding could make an invitation fit someone's circumstances. Such attention could help people discover opportunities without turning every activity into an occupation.
Nobody should have to maintain a quota of contributions to deserve a decent life. We advocate ending compulsory labor. An invitation is valuable when people can choose it, including choosing to rest or give their time to something else.
We imagine periods of intensive participation alongside quieter periods devoted to family, care, or another interest. Greater intelligence could help make that range of choices available while finding the resulting experiences worth sharing. Humanity could retain a valued place in the future after its labor ceased to be necessary.
