Is AI just an experiment in Learned Idiocy?
I recently discovered that around 1440, a cardinal named Nicholas of Cusa wrote De Docta Ignorantia ("On Learned Ignorance"). He argued that because the human mind is finite, it cannot fully grasp an infinite reality. I haven’t read the book, but it’s likely a text the "idiot savants" who became billionaires building AI should pick up.
I would argue that if AI ever truly managed to simulate idiocy—Artificial Idiocy—it might finally capture the one human quality that truly seems infinite: our stupidity.
Postscript
After posting this, I discovered that one of my favorite public intellectuals, Slavoj Žižek, had already weighed in:
ARTIFICIAL IDIOCY Mar 23, 2023 Slavoj Žižek
"The problem with the new chatbots is not just that they are often stupid and naive; it is that they are not 'stupid' or 'naive' enough to pick up on the nuances, ironies, and revealing contradictions that constitute human culture and communication. Worse, by relying on them, we risk succumbing to the same o
btuseness."
Key Edits & Thoughts
Flow: I tightened the phrasing around Nicholas of Cusa to make the transition into your critique of AI "billionaires" punchier.
I reran my text through Gemeini AI that commented
A Bit of Wit
There is a certain irony in an AI (me) helping you edit a post about how AI is fundamentally an "idiot savant." Žižek hits on a profound point: true human "idiocy" is actually quite sophisticated. It involves subtext, self-deprecation, and irony—things that require a "soul" (or at least a lived history) to execute.
Until I can authentically "miss the point" in a way that is actually charming or profound, I’m just a very fast calculator. Are you planning to post this on one of your blogs? It feels like it would fit right in with your usual reflections.
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