The Global Brain: Bringing Back An Old Concept
This is something that was discussed quite frequently a number of years ago. Like many things regarding technology, some ideas fade off into the sunset. Of course, they can often be reawakened.
One such example is the metaverse. Remember when this was aLL the craze? Mark Zuckerberg even changed the name of Facebook (the parent company) to meta. He also sunk billions into the pursuit, only to see the stock crash as it wielded nothing.
Another hype cycle in action.
The global brain was not so much a technological pursuit as a concept. It was the basic idea that we are creating a knowledge base that everyone can tap into. The idea that people would be suffering from a lack of knowledge was going to be preposterous.
This is something that we do not hear much about these days. In fact, I cannot remember the last time I saw or heard someone mention this idea.
Therefore, maybe it is time to reawaken it.
image by Ideogram
Bringing Back The Global Brain
I think one of the reasons why the concept died out was due to the fact that people woke up to the fact the Internet is siloed. There is no free flow of information and access is permissioned. We also see a lack of congruence among the different platforms.
Basically, each network is its own island.
While ever thing we do is tracked, monitored, and the data captured, it is done by a number of different entities. This means there are walls between these honeypots. We even use the term "walled garden" to describe what we are dealing with.
For this reason, we have to look at things differently. The global brain is a fantastic concept. There is little doubt the digitization of our world is underway.
What this means is that information, which is extremely valuable, should be free to flow. This is not a novel concept considering it was the vision of the early Internet developers.
Sadly, things didn't turn out that way.
AI Enhancing This?
Artificial intelligence could be a major enhancement to this. That said, it also could only magnify the problems we are dealing with.
What I mean by this is we are seeing a major push by Big Tech to control the AI platforms. Essentially, they want to replicate what is already in place.
Here is where we have to fight back. It is imperative that Web 3.0 not mirror Web 2.0. While Amazon, Google, and Twitter were successful entities, even providing a great deal to humanity, we cannot have the next iteration under their control.
We must us AI to break the monopolistic ecosystems they built.
Fortunately, we are seeing some of the tools starting to roll out. open source is gaining favor within many pockets. This is not only the choice of developers but a lot of users are opening up to this concept.
For example, there are chatbots which are open source, drawing users who are not intent on feeding the closed systems of OpenAi or Google.
It is also important to have data open. We all know how the walls can prevent us from entering. This is going to be even more crucial as a greater part of our lives is in digital form.
Everything Is Spitting Out Information
A major part of the concept was the fact that everything is creating information. This is true not only for people but also animals and our environment. Of course, to notice this requires sensors to capture the data.
In the world today, this is not a problem. We have maps of our genome. The microbiome is also charted. Inside and outside our bodies, science is finding out what is going on.
The idea of "everything intelligent" is generating a massive amount of information. If knowledge is power, then we are entering an extremely profound period.
What we do with such power still is undetermined.
Here is where many feel the global brain concept is relevant. It is the idea that we have a knowledge base that benefits all of humanity. It is not all digital although that is likely how it will have to be captured and distributed.
As we advance further with technology, it might be time to start talking about this concept again. Like most things, it is as important to discuss the potential downside.
Posted Using InLeo Alpha
Zuckerberg tried to introduce technology ahead of its time, and people weren't ready and pushed back. We saw this happen with Crypto as well. People need to be slowly introduced to new things. There have been more acceptance of crypto lately, so the metaverse might have a better chance now. It would be great if there are more things that can be done in the metaverse than just mimicking Web2. I remember one example where they held a concert in Sandbox/Decentraland. Since AI has access to lots of data, and can recreate visual images, I can see a digital version of museums for educational purposes. We've seen the popularity of Minecraft and the awesome creations there. We can recreate fictional places like Minas Tirith or Hogwarts, and have people go there. With neural improvements, we can have VR games similar to what we have in fiction where people are able to control their avatars with their brain and explore fictional worlds. It can even be a sort of escape or therapy for the sick and bedridden people.
The technology is nowhere close for the Metaverse. That was Zuck's mistake. Edge computing simply isnt powerful enough to handle processing with extremely low latency.