Episode #1 Pilot Transcript

Voice Over (00:07):

You've tapped into the Divine Spark Podcast from Paulsen. Join us as we explore a refreshingly human first approach to using AI in marketing, business development, and more in the ag, energy and rural sectors.

Sara (00:25):

Hi, I am Sara Stever, CTO at Paulsen. Thanks for joining us today on the Divine Spark. As fast as things are moving, we're still only at the very beginning of this transformation, and it's one that literally touches everyone on the planet. So how should we think about this shift, especially at the speed that change is coming? What is ethical and appropriate use? What's a rational process for adoption and change management for individuals and organizations as more and more of what we see becomes artificial and fake? How can our responses be authentic and real? Should we be hopeful? Should we be terrified? Each of us is on our own journey in understanding the recent changes in artificial intelligence and specifically in generative ai. And even if you embrace it fully, you'll likely run across people who are very concerned about generative AI and its broader implications to us as individuals, to our society, to our institutions, and even national security.

(01:19):

To start, I'm going to share my personal journey in the hope that it will help others who are feeling hesitant about what's coming. I studied art in college, so when I was first introduced to chat GPT 3.5, I was so angry at the idea that an artist or a writer could spend a lifetime building a body of original work, and then without their permission have their work uploaded into a technology to be used by people with no connection to the artist to create similar work in a matter of seconds. That made me think really hard about the idea of original work. It's something we take for granted, right? It's so obvious. I mean, somewhere way back in the beginning, we developed language, songs, art, written words, sculpture, theater, poetry, architecture and so on, and those are all original works, so it's proper to be angry about this.

(02:05):

Then three things happened to me within a week that changed my perspective completely. I'm really lucky to have some smart people in my life, one of which is my brother who happens to have a PhD in computational sciences and statistics. So his advice to me was generative AI is all a derivative, okay, a derivative. Then I had an email conversation with a colleague regarding the Hollywood script writer strike. Now, I took the recit of the writers because they should be upset. My colleague, who had been a Hollywood script writer said, what's the difference between me studying films and writing a film based on my knowledge of other films and the machine doing it? It's the same thing, except the amount of knowledge is going to be large with the machine. Then the final coincidence came to me as I was reading a short devotion written by CS Lewis, and I'll paraphrase it for you.

(02:59):

The best we can hope for as mere mortals is to be a clean mirror and reflecting the true creator. So in effect, the things I thought of as original were really only derivatives to begin with, and the LLMs are just derivatives of derivatives. So that's how I understand both the promise and the limitations of generative ai. Now, it doesn't mean that we don't keep our eyes open to the very real risks because we do, but we also keep an open mind and we tell ourselves this repeatedly. If good people don't embrace ai, then only bad people will. We all have a responsibility and maybe even an obligation to know and understand this transformation because it's happening and it will impact what we do and some of us more than others. So you have to take a look at your role and decide if AI can replace me, then maybe I need a better value proposition.

(03:49):

And the great news is that you have one and that is your divine spark. And that divine spark is what makes us human and distinguishes us from what's artificial. It is our drive to create. It's our intuition, our passion, our stoicism, for doing the right thing, even if it only benefits others. It's that there is actual beauty in the fact that we are fallible, judgmental, witty, forgetful, stubborn, and just plain human in a real and practical sense. It distinguishes us from artificial intelligence. No matter how much AI changes our life's work, we also believe firmly that the appropriate way to approach AI is human first. Each of us has a divine spark, a uniquely human trait, and here's what we at Paulson believe human first. AI means. First, we will respect the divine spark in every person. We believe that AI is a tool for humans and not the other way around.

(04:44):

We believe that artificial intelligence is no substitute for human intelligence. We believe that human expertise and judgment is essential to a flourishing workplace. We will create an environment where learning new skills is part of everyone's job. We believe in transparency and honesty and use of generative ai, and finally, we give each other grace and learning where AI will take us. At Paulson, we will celebrate what is authentic because human first is at our core, we're also going to explore how AI and specifically generative AI will change rural America. There will be opportunities and also challenges that are unique to the rural areas of our country, and as we have always done, we will shine a light on our neighbors and friends, the audiences we serve every day at Paulson. We hope you'll join us in this journey where we celebrate the divine spark through an authentic human first approach to ai.

Voice Over (05:37):

Thanks for listening to The Divine Spark. Visit us at Paulsen dot agency with any questions or ideas for future episodes.