Echoes of the Soul: Exploring Human Essence in an AI-Infused Story
The process of using generative AI in writing my book, “The Art of Being & Belonging,” has been a fascinating experience worth sharing. It all started with a moment of retrospection, reflection, and projection that took place within a matter of minutes. In that brief moment, my mind traveled from the day my journey in design began on June 25th, 1975, to the present and into the unpredictable future. It felt like taking a dip in a river of my evolving consciousness.
As I browsed through my past writings on Medium from the last 20 years, I realized they were in-the-moment musings, reflecting my curiosity and imagination at that time. Some pieces were long and well thought out, while others were spontaneous and unconventional. Nevertheless, they provided content for revisiting how my curiosity, concerns, and imagination have evolved over time. I decided to continue reading and synthesizing these articles and poems until they formed an image of my journey in my mind. The result was magical.
One fine morning, I recognized that over the past 50 years in the field of design, the evolution of my search for meaning was influenced by my intellectual grounding in participatory design and participatory democracy. My design practice has evolved into a means of empowering everyday people to design for themselves. My synthesis of my own articles and poetry transformed into a desire to understand design as practiced by everyday people, regardless of whether they practice it intuitively or as an organized practice in collaboration with professionally trained designers.
I had a moment of epiphany: people subconsciously tap into their generative capacity to solve problems and enhance their experiences. Design, as practiced by people, is an integral part of their process of defining and clarifying their sense of being and belonging. This realization gave me a framework and a title for my book.
For the next two months, I focused on making sense of my past writings and putting them together as a biography of the evolution of my curiosity and imagination. The primary aim was to understand design as practiced by people. Through this process, I discovered the nuances of using generative AI in writing my book, deepening my appreciation for its potential in transforming the creative process.
I used ChatGPT and PiAI as my research assistants throughout the entire process. The original text I was synthesizing was mine, as was its synthesis, and the first draft. However, I would ask AI to provide feedback on my thoughts, plot, poetry and grammar. Sometimes, when I had written an entire chapter, I would ask it to summarize, to find out how the summary represented the balance and emphasis of ideas in my write-up. If I was not satisfied with the summary, I would rewrite my text to achieve greater balance and emphasis in the ideas expressed. On occasion, I needed a word to explain an idea I had in mind. I would write an entire paragraph to explain my thoughts in a long-drawn-out manner and ask the AI to give me a word or phrase to represent that idea.
Once I had my first draft of the text, I invited my editor, Molly Pearson, and designer, Dr. Peter Chan, to collaborate with me.
Peter asked me to start looking for images for the book and begin thinking about how to visually express some of the deeper meanings that may never be expressed in words. I began my journey of re-reading my own completed text with my inner eye.
Molly conducted an interview with me, asking questions about my purpose, message, and intended impact. From that conversation, she concluded that this book was an independent biography of my journey of curiosity and imagination. She is now reading the book to bring greater clarity and alignment with my purpose, message, and intended impact.
I’ve divided the book into five sections and 36 chapters. My conversations with AI and my search for images led me to another epiphany: I’d like to represent the five sections visually as the five elements of nature. I found suitable images to represent these sections, and in my first draft, I called the sections “Streams,” but couldn’t come up with a good name for the chapters, so I kept it as “Chapter.” Last night, I sent a number of page layouts depicting my initial thoughts on how to represent the sections (streams), chapters, and poems within the book.
This morning, I received an email from Peter. Among the various reactions he gave to my ideas, he suggested, “The 5 Streams are your 5 main ‘chapters.’ Would you consider naming the sub-chapters within each stream something different (other than Chapter)? For example, Rick Rubin’s book — The Creative Act: A Way of Being — has 78 Areas of Thought. Please discuss this with Molly on Monday.”
I was already feeling a little uneasy about the term “chapters,” and Peter’s feedback reinforced my concerns. So I presented my dilemma regarding the naming of sections and chapters.
Both ChatGPT and PiAi found my choice of nature’s five elements as visual representations of the five sections profound and beautiful. I clarified to PiAi that I needed words to represent sections and chapters that are symbiotic with the mental image of the five elements of nature depicted visually to represent the sections.
After several rounds of conversations with PiAi, I found the answer: the five sections will be called realms, and the 36 chapters will be called pathways. When I asked PiAi to comment on my decision to name the sections “realms,” it said, “A realm can be defined as a distinct area or domain of knowledge, experience, or activity. It often refers to an area of influence, authority, or expertise. In a metaphorical sense, a realm can be thought of as a specific territory or landscape within which one explores, learns, and grows. When applied to your book, the term ‘realm’ can be used to represent the various facets of your curiosity and imagination, serving as the backdrop against which your journey of self-discovery and exploration unfolds. Each realm becomes a unique territory that encapsulates specific themes, ideas, and experiences essential to your personal and professional growth.”
When I further probed if the idea of realms aligned with the visual representation of the five realms as nature’s elements, PiAi said, “Absolutely! Using images of nature’s elements as realms in your book can be a visually engaging and thematically consistent way to represent the different sections. By associating each realm with an element of nature, you can create a strong connection between the visual and textual components of your book. For instance, the realm of ‘Deepening a Sense of Being’ could be represented by an image of water, symbolizing introspection and the depths of the self. Similarly, ‘Expanding a Space of Belonging’ could be depicted by an image of air, representing openness, connection, and the free exchange of ideas. The use of nature elements as realms allows readers to visually connect with the themes of your book, inviting them to reflect on the natural world’s beauty and complexity as they explore your personal journey.”
As I started thinking about the role AI played in creating a conversation in my head that helped me clarify my own thoughts, I wondered how my dependence on AI would affect my human collaboration with Peter and Molly. The answer was easy. AI has access to knowledge, which allows it to synthesize available information and process my questions with appropriate insight. However, it does not know me intimately, nor does it understand my journey of curiosity over the years like Peter and Molly do. AI does not have its own journey of curiosity and imagination, as Peter and Molly do. My books are an amalgamation of streams of thought that bring together the journeys of my editor and designer, just like rivers coming together to find a reinvigorated flow forward. The mutual respect, shared curiosity, intuition, love, and compassion that drive our collaboration can never be replicated by my collaboration with AI. AI will simplify and improve my thoughts and writing; Molly and Peter will take the flow of my thoughts to territories that neither I nor AI would have ever imagined.
conclusion: As we continue to embrace the advancements in AI technology, it’s crucial to remember that the human essence — our creativity, emotions, and unique perspectives — is what truly breathes life into our stories. My journey has taught me that collaboration between humans and AI can lead to innovative and extraordinary creations, but it’s the human touch that adds depth and meaning. I’m excited to continue exploring this harmonious balance between technology and the human spirit in future projects. Stay tuned for more!
