MIECO 2023 - Episode 2
This is the third of a four-part series where we reflect on MIECO 2023.
Mozilla's Internet Ecosystem program (MIECO) funds innovators building a better internet. It lives at the intersection of basic research, tech development, and ethics.
In this episode, MIECO participants discuss the imagination age, connected intelligence, and preserving digital autonomy.
I think our species has this one weird trick. And this one weird trick is that we keep inventing ways to think together.
Gordon Branner
Computers as Imagination Machines
Jeff Lindsay reflects on Harold and the Purple Crayon, a 1955 children's book following four-year-old Harold's adventures with his magic purple crayon. The book led to a series, movies, a broadway musical, and inspired dozens of related creative works. Jeff talks about how computers can help us live out the dream of having things like Harold's magic purple crayon, ushering us into an age of imagination.
Connected Cognition and AI
Brendan Fong argues that today's AI is modeled around a person with a high IQ, who is like an expert in many fields. But instead of focusing on an individual's capabilities, Brendan's vision for AI is centered around community and how its members see one another. Rather than just manipulate language, he suggests that AI should help us invent new language that will allow us to more clearly and honestly express our thoughts. AI can help bridge the gap between us and unlock our ability to collaborate and cooperate with one another.
Preserving Digital Autonomy
Gordon Brander loves note-taking tools and apps, but has lost many thoughts and notes to hosted or paid subscription apps that either go out of business or offer no way to export the thoughts he's entered. Gordon's work on Noosphere and Subconscious aim to prevent these kinds of problems from happening not just with the tools he builds, but for any future tools built on the Noosphere protocol as well.