The Great Simplification with Nate Hagens - The 8 Faces of AI: Who Will You Become As AI Accelerates? | Frankly 96

Episode Date: May 23, 2025

In a world increasingly mediated by machines, the boundaries between human identity and artificial intelligence are beginning to blur. While some embrace the tools of the future, others quietly resist, preserving ways of being that have endured for millennia. What happens when AI becomes not just a tool but a mirror? In this week's Frankly, Nate introduces a new typology of how AI may shape human behavior in the years ahead. He outlines eight archetypes reflecting our varied relationships to artificial intelligence—ranging from resistance and discipline to dependence and immersion. Rather than focusing on technological capability, he explores what these categories reveal about human psychology, culture, and adaptation. Which of these types do you see in yourself and those around you? What will it take to retain our analog roots in a digital age? And in a world increasingly shaped by algorithms, what kind of human will you choose to be? (Recorded May 20, 2025)   Show Notes and More Watch this video episode on YouTube Help shape the future of TGS by taking our 10-minute Learning & Training Survey   ---   Want to learn the broad overview of The Great Simplification in 30 minutes? Watch our Animated Movie.   Support The Institute for the Study of Energy and Our Future   Join our Substack newsletter   Join our Discord channel and connect with other listeners  

Greetings to the followers of the Great Simplification Platform and podcast. Before we get to this week's, frankly, I have a small favor to ask you, the viewers. In addition to the podcast and the Franklies, later this year, we're going to be offering a series of courses broadly construed about reality 101 in different categories. And we have a survey, which takes about 10 minutes to complete. and I would be appreciative if you could take the time to fill this survey out, which will help us, you know, inform how we do these course offerings that will come out later this year. You can find the link to this survey in the description of this episode. Gratitude for those of you who fill it out.

With that, here is this week's, frankly, on artificial intelligence. Greetings. It's Tuesday, May 20th. And it is pouring rain here in eastern Minnesota, which is good for Morales, wild mushrooms, fingers crossed. That'll happen in the next week or so. I'm going to talk today about artificial intelligence. Again, I am not an AI expert. If I'm an expert in anything, it's why AI or ASI or AGI artificial superintelligence, artificial general intelligence.

are unlikely to actually happen. But I was just in San Francisco for some meetings, some presentations. And it's amazing how the world seems to center around artificial intelligence. On this podcast, I have talked often about how in the biophysical macro sense, AI will function as a larger straw if it increases productivity and enables better nuclear power. or better extraction of minerals or energy, et cetera, it will be a giant backfire effect. What I haven't talked much about is the impact on humans, our human psyche, our psychology, our identities.

And I'd like to briefly touch on that. And I've come up with eight categories of a typology of how AI might impact the categories. of humans alive today. The first category I'm going to call the meek, and that's a little bit of a pejorative label, but I'll explain why I'm using the meek. These are people around the world that won't be affected by AI because they're remote, or they don't have access to the Internet. And because of the other categories I'm going to suggest,

the implication of calling them the meek is the meek will inherit the earth. because they will remain pure normal human psychology that's not blended in with a large language model or impacted in the ways that some of these other categories might be. I think fortunately or unfortunately, this category will increasingly be a smaller percentage in a minority as the digital infrastructure expands globally. but they also will be unique in the ability to preserve cultural practices and perspectives untainted by algorithmic influence, the meek. The second category I'm going to call the naive, which they have access to the internet and to artificial intelligence, but they're either unaware of what it can do or they're uninterested. Could also call this category the blissful. You know, they just don't care.

And they enjoy using technology, but they're unaware of both the opportunities and the pitfalls of large language model integration with human behavior. This category is going to be increasingly vulnerable to manipulation through AI systems because they're unaware of what's going on behind the scenes. And I think this category includes people with means, but lacking awareness as opposed to the meek, which is just people without access. So the naive or the blissful. I'm not sure which I like better. The third category is the AI Luddites. So Luddites were historically against all technology. And AI Luddite is aware of how.

This tech could act as a siphon on the human ability to process, cognitively express emotions in the way that 15,000 generations of Homo sapiens ancestors have done. And they don't want to be involved in it. But they can't help but a little bit. So they actively try to eliminate artificial intelligence in their life. lives and act as resistance. This will potentially be a cultural stigma for those people. And I expect it's going to be a real thing. I think there will be people that don't want AI in any part of their lives and will actively choose to do that. The fourth category, which is kind of a subset of the AI Luddites, is the pragmatists. Those. Those.

that for, they might be aware of the pitfalls of AI, but they have to use it. Otherwise, they risk falling behind in their jobs because of the things that their peers can accomplish just using AI five or 10% of the time. The pragmatists will begrudgingly use AI in their jobs to make the productivity or whatever the goals of their organization are better, faster, cheaper. The next category is the flexors. It is those people that either from insecurity or addiction or seeking approval, the same type of people that perpetually look at social media comments and likes and such are going to use AI to flex like a peacock does its feathers in all the different ways. And that's their objective.

It's not going to be more productive. It's not to enjoy their lives more. to make social statements. Look at how clever. Look at how bright. Look at how creative I am. And I think that, unfortunately, might be quite a big category. Just like, you know, you're already seeing it on LinkedIn.

The tech pros are showing their new workout routines. Where on this podcast, I complain about my lack of workout routines. But I think flexing AI is going to be an accordion that lifts the amplitude of those people trying to show off in our world with the metrics of the day. Of course, then there might be a boomerang effect that to not flex actually becomes flexing using AI. I don't know what that would look like. The next category, which in my opinion is the pinnacle of integrating AI with human behavior in today's world or the world coming in the next few years, I'll just call it the achievers. And these are the people that are expert in using AI to get things done in their job, in their life. But they draw the line at 10% or 15% and they still have the discipline and wherewithal to focus on what it means to be used.

human, they have great family lives, they are fit, they go outdoors, they meditate, they do all the things to live a real human existence, but when needed, they are expert at achieving and using things using AI. The seventh category I'm going to call the cyborg, who will increasingly experience cognition as a hybrid process between human and machine. They could develop novel thought patterns and problem-solving approaches while losing certain cognitive abilities that atrophy while gaining new abilities. And they will face profound issues about their identity, where their human identity ends and where AI begins. They are fully immersed. They are achieving things, but they're going to be fully immersed and use AI 24-7, which means they're going to leave the

natural human connection, love and joy world behind. And the last category, I'm going to label the dissolved. And that's the people that were addicted to social media or video games or whatever in today's world. Artificial intelligence, large language models, is it going to be like crack cocaine for that sort of temperament and lack of dismaline and personality type? going to suffer massive deterioration in physical and mental health through AI dependence, withdrawal from human relationships, maybe unable to function without continual to AI support and

validation. They may have 10 or 15 hour a day conversations with the chatbots that were based on a deceased loved one or an imaginary perfect girlfriend or boyfriend or whatever. I wonder how many human beings will eventually fall into this category. Why do I care about all this? Well, I think we all should care about all this. AI is whether you are a fan or aware of it or not, it is coming probably slower than most people think. My personal view is there will be some sort of a global currency bond geopolitical dislocation before we get to the holy grail of artificial. superintelligence, but I don't know. So I am confident in the logical pillars of the great

simplification. And as we enter a future of reduced energy flows, ecological limits, and systemic contraction, I believe that the behavioral archetypes that I've just listed are going to shape who adapts and who falters. And eventually, when AI breaks or stalls, or fades those who retain deep human competence, embodied knowledge, and analog resilience are going to be better prepared, especially if they're surrounded by like-minded people. So the achievers and the Luddites, given my little typology, might fare best. Obviously, the dissolved and the cyborgs leased, and the meek, once overlooked, could become unexpected teaching. I almost called that category the inheritors. So in this light, AI is not just a tool.

It could be a sorting mechanism of force revealing not just what we can do, but who we are becoming. I'm an energy, ecology, behavior guy. AI is not my forte. But I think to take an aerial view of the human predicament and not include artificial intelligence as a piece on the game board is naive. It's coming and it's going to have a huge impact. I will talk to you next week.

Next week will be an unusual, frankly, the superorganism in seven minutes based on a talk I just gave in San Francisco. Hope you're all well. And if you live in an area that has morel mushrooms, good luck.