AI: Diverse Perspective And A Common Future

Handbook of Global
Philosophies on AI Ethics

Towards Sustainable Futures

Sunil Malhotra, the author of YOGAi: Interplays of Yoga and Artificial Intelligence (paperback, published 26 March 2024), is our friend and mentor. He has contributed a chapter to the book Whose Ethics for AI?

About the book

This book offers an exploration of the diverse perspectives that shape the future of artificial intelligence (AI), highlighting the influence of non-Western thinking on its development. What would the impact be if Al were developed with the wisdom of Ubuntu, the harmony of Confucian thought, or the Indian principle of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, "the world is one family", at its core?

This thought-provoking collection brings together leading voices from around the globe to reimagine AI systems that are fair, ethical, and inclusive. Addressing critical issues such as bias, fairness, privacy, and existential risks, it challenges the status quo. It envisions a future where AI reflects the values of all humanity—not just a select few. Exploring the influence of topics such as religion, culture, and social movements, the book examines how these perspectives shape Al's application across industries such as finance, education, and the military, while underscoring the importance of establishing robust ethical guardrails.

Whether you're a curious reader, a policy maker, a scholar, or a tech innovator, this book is your guide to understanding how different cultural perspectives can redefine AI ethics. It's time to ask, what kind of world do we want AI to build for us all?

Thank you, Sunil, for sharing your life and work with us. 

Let us begin with the cover. I see Techno-Spirituality, the meeting of mind and matter, the creation of a transient being, and an eternal harmony for the universe.

This morning, when I jumped out of bed, there was the article by my bedside, which Sunil shared with me just last evening, and it was indeed the reason for the high level of energy at 4:30 AM, my reading hour!

Reading the chapter made me realise that each of us comes to the world with a purpose, and Dharma and Karma intertwine our lives; thus, we hold and sustain everything in our lives. We learn about righteousness and ethics; this is how we prepare our role in society and the country at large, build our identity and are subsumed by the universe when our purpose of existence is fulfilled.

AI is a mystical technology that has captured the world's attention, and most of us are only reading the headlines; not many can decode the jargon around terms like LLM, AGI, and Singularity. What I took away from the article was the good, that makes us independent and self-reliant, we need to choose We over Me, and the welfare of others unites us. Looking from this perspective, history is witness to the rise and fall of civilisations and has established the fact that it is Spirituality that holds the world together; we are all one world and one family, and AI, to my mind, will and should bring us all together in the quest for global good.

AI is a paradox: like any new invention and technology, it has both good and bad sides. This is where ethics matter, and we need not limit ourselves to a binary view. Being control freaks, humans have a superiority complex and feel threatened by change and are in a state of inertia. Over the years, we have noted that all disruptions first challenge us to accept, then require acceptance, and finally, to live with acceptance. The constant state of change and chaos has the energy that must help us build our intelligence and capabilities.

I am currently reading Human Edge in the AI Age: Eight Timeless Mantras for Success by Nitin Seth, bestselling author of Winning in the Digital Age and Mastering the Data Paradox. The book blurb states: A seismic shift is underway―one that will redefine work, value, and even what it means to be human.

Artificial Intelligence is not just disrupting industries―it's beginning to outperform humans in areas once considered exclusively ours: complex reasoning, creativity, even emotional intelligence. As AI accelerates, it will displace millions of jobs―while also creating once-in-a-generation opportunities for those ready to build, innovate, and lead.

Intelligence is the application of knowledge, and AI is helping us build a neocortex in the cloud and expand our brains into an endless frontier. We surely need Spirituality to maintain sanity and be good humans. Revolutions come and go, and civilisations are wiped out. What seems omnipotent is the human guest for learning, and this is the key message one takes away when such books come to the shelf and are widely read.

Yes, hype and western hegemony have a role to play; there are believers, nay-sayers, and sceptics, which goes to show the complexity and uncertainty surrounding the future of AGI (Artificial General Intelligence). We have to accept the fact that universal functionality and morality must work for everyone. Over the years, IP, Copyright and any exclusive control over content have been lost, and we are all adding to the ocean of knowledge, living on our islands, disconnected and pretending to be connected. Understanding AI, and what path to follow, the need for regulation, and self-governance, no doubt that no one will be left untouched. Let us work together, as anthropomorphism is fundamental to human social behaviour. We believe in God and thus need to understand the global good and use technology with ethics as its primary guiding principle.

Looking back to the idea of Spiritual Quotient, YOGAi and how the discourse on AI ethics encompasses multiple dimensions, we must look at the way YOGA builds harmony and is today looked at as a way for global good - no hegemony, no copyright, only suitable for all in body and well-being. Like the West found the East, and discovered the power of Dharma and good, today the East must look at the West and find ways to use AI for the greater common good, and not let the West establish a new world order to replace the old world order; hegemony and monopoly are not the way for peaceful existence.

The chapter by Sunil Malhotra, very timely indeed, is in my mailbox, and I am hoping the author will soon send me a signed copy of the book. Of course I would be happy to pay the price, as this should be my 'guru dakshina' (gift to the guru in honour) for all he does to help me understand the leapfrogging nature of change, the way the exponential growth of technology and knowledge is helping us build our intelligence and not just the so called demon by some - Artificial Intelligence.

Sandeep Dutt

Sandeep is a seasoned educational consultant with over four decades of experience. He specialises in enhancing learning outcomes through tailored strategies for students and institutions. Please find out more about him at www.sdutt.com

Dr Tazeen Siddiqui: Faith or Belief, what leads to spiritual strength?

The Child's mind is a set of thoughts that they absorb through experiences, books, peer learning, Teachers, parents etc.

The beliefs that we give our kids in our legacy helps in building spiritual strength and true faith. If we grow our kids with the belief that if a black cat crosses your way it turns out to be unlucky will imprint the false beliefs in their minds and heart, which will shatter the true faith of honesty, hard work, dedication and commitment.W e need to teach children the real faith that encourages and strengthen spiritual bonding.

Every Faith begins with the concept of honesty, hard work, Dedication and love. Once we inculcate these true faith in children they tend to build a strong spiritual bonding with a great trust in Giving, sharing and loving everyone in this world.

False beliefs shatter true faith while true faith, strengthen spiritual bonding to do the right and understand the concept that consequences are the results of our actions and if we do it with true faith, it turns into excellence and if done by false beliefs it leads to ignorance. It's important to turn thoughts into a true faith which in turn encourage true actions.

We need to grow up children with the thought that our actions have to be channelized with right thoughts of gaining knowledge, sharing and rising together with excellence as coded in the holy books.

Bhagwat Geeta Verse #1:
"Karmanye vadhika raste,
Ma phaleshu kadachana;
ma karma phala he tur bhuh,
ma te sangvasta karmani".

To action alone hast thou a right and never at all to its fruits; let not the fruits of action be thy motive; neither let there be in thee any attachment to inaction. There is no substitute for hard work and hard work eventually pays.

Quran
Man will not get anything unless he works hard surah al najm 53:39

There is no doubt about the fact that man cannot make any progress without efforts and hard work. for example, one who studies wholeheartedly becomes a scholar similarly a farmer who ploughs the farm, sows seeds in it and waters them, is soon rewarded with crops.

When we make our children strong with these true faith we create a great generation for the future to create history with peace in the world and knowledge in every heart and mind.

Dr Tazeen Siddiqui, Email fortazeen@gmail.com

The Karma of Individuality

“Until the lions have their own historians, the history of the hunt will always glorify the hunter”

-       An old proverb

This world belongs to those that have won and not those that have lost. A history teacher I once knew had pointed out a very relevant fact to me which was basically that history had been written by those that had won, therefore it was not a definite that history was not going to be skewed towards them. The winner would rewrite history in order to make them seem favourable and the better lot. I’ve thought about this quite often and wondered what if Hitler had won the world war? Would we be still condemning the holocaust? Or had the Kauravas won the battle of Kurukshetra, would the Bhagwad Gita still be our holy text? What if the Mahabharata had been written from the point of view of the Kauravas? Maybe the Pandavas would have been portrayed as the evil cousins who came again and again to snatch away the kingdom that rightfully belonged to the Kauravas till they were finally defeated in the battle of Kurukshetra? Would Karma have still meant what it does today or what it was intended to ?

The philosophy of Karma yoga states that we carry forward all our Karma through all our lifetimes and reap the results of what we sow from our past and present lives. The Bhagwad Gita says that we must fulfill our moral duty towards God through action and not inaction. Karma should renounce desire of the fruit of one’s actions and be free of all attachments.  

I don’t wish to contest what the Bhagwad Gita says as I don’t proclaim myself to be an expert on this magnificent piece of intellect. But somewhere when I consider Karma I am forced to think. In my very small and microscopic view of life as I have seen it as I have not seen a previous life and am not aware of what happened in which life. Those that believe in Karma from previous lives as well might have seen their previous incarnations and that is what has convinced them into believing that their present condition in life is not due to what they have done in this life but what they might have done in another life.

While I vehemently believe in the theory of Karma and that you reap what you sow, I also believe and hope that you do so in this life and not carry forward or bring forth balance from others. The Bhagwad Gita is a way of life that lays down moral guidelines to help us charter our own paths. With many different interpretations of the Gita that exist today I like to think that there should be some personal involvement while interpreting it as well as that will help us apply the principles better to our individual situations. Duality is the life sustaining force in our existence. Action or inaction, dharma or adharma, good or evil, action and reaction, male and female, life and death, sun and moon, hot and cold, yin and yang and so on are all defining aspects of this duality. Their very existence is inter-dependent and as they cease to exist without each other this duality becomes a single interaction. Therefore as every action has an equal and opposite reaction every Karma has a reaction attached to it.

Practice what you preach. Many things are easier said than done and while reading the Bhagwad Gita I realized that the way to the eternal truth is also paved in being sinless. In the world that we live in today, sin has reached different meanings altogether and many things that are morally and ethically wrong are being accepted as part of life. In short, they are not seen as sin any longer. The standards for wrongdoing have become higher and people actually work hard to achieve those. Honesty and integrity are seen as faults that simpletons are supposed to possess as opposed to the righteous lot. With the sort of corruption and evil that exists around our very center of being in this world where being human or moral is seen as a fault, how does one exist without committing some sin or the other? Sometimes I feel it is impossible. I haven’t seen an after or before life and in my very limited view and experience of this life petty crimes, lying cheating and being unethical are seen as practical ways to live and move up the ladder.

While I struggle to explore these many thoughts and truths the one thing that stays untouched and stands forth is that the whole is greater than the individual manifestations. The Bhagwad Gita along with the existence of duality somewhere puts back faith in Karma and that even if the Kauravas had won the battle of Kurukshetra, and history been written with a different perspective, the balance that duality seeks to establish naturally would have remained and the Bhagwad Gita have survived as the eternal truth. There for the taking and understanding for those that wish to. Shadow will not exist without light and that which is false will not exist without the truth.

As individuals and young people it is our moral and ethical responsibility to use our capacity for thought and judgment in order to decide what we want in our lives and what we don’t want. Accepting anything on a platter whether right or wrong without applying one’s own judgment may be the deciding factor in what paths we choose to travel to what end. History could be written to glorify the hunter but if we start to question and apply our moral and ethical compass to chart our roadmaps, somewhere the eternal truth shall prevail.

About the author: Neha Parmar is a wildlife photographer and a conservationist with some tolerable talent for writing. If you liked, connected or have a contrary perspective with anything that you read please feel to share your feedback. 

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