patrick on ai ness
patrick tanguay on ai ness
via jon husband fb share july 5 2026:
Thinking about the long-term pervasive effects of regular widespread use of AI, and notably agentic AI.
Via Sentiers, Patrick Tanguay
<< He then looks, in a couple of ways, at AI understood by analogy to the unconscious. In one, agentic *AI builds a layer of activity in the world that operates apart from human judgement—a point he borrows from **Erik Hoel, who warns that it moves the operations of civilisation out from under the supervision of consciousness.
*this is .. to me.. what we actually need ai/tech/whatever for.. the thing we can’t seem to do ie: let go of judge\ment ness.. of any form of m\a\p ness.. aka: tech w/o judgment via nonjudgmental expo labeling
**again.. to me.. this is what we need.. since none of us are legit us (wilde not-us law; black science of people/whales law; et al).. we need a legit global detox leap to get back to us
In the other, more speculative angle, Sacasas turns to Marshall McLuhan’s account of electric media as an extension of the nervous system and Pierre Teilhard de Chardin’s idea of a collective noosphere. Both lead to Gregory Ulmer’s description of the *internet as a “prosthesis of our collective unconscious,” which he thought might let us examine our own cultural formation.
*actually.. what we need is for the tech w/o judgment ness to help us listen to our own itch-in-the-soul.. aka: what’s already on each heart.. but currently (and since forever) .. covered/missing/scrambled et al..
so.. to me.. need 1st/most: means (nonjudgmental expo labeling) to undo hierarchical listening – so we can hear what’s already on each heart as global detox in order to org around legit needs
Sacasas argues chatbots do the opposite, they smooth over that tangle with confident, soothing answers and function less like a guide to self-knowledge than like an anti-therapist. He closes by wondering whether some of the anxiety and instability running through public life now traces back to that retreat of consciousness, as an *artificial unconscious reasserts itself beneath our collective existence.
*again.. to me.. this has happened since forever.. since garden-enough ness.. ever since we started perpetuating any form of m\a\p
and since then (since forever).. nothing to date has gotten to the root of problem
legit freedom will only happen if it’s all of us.. and in order to be all of us.. has to be sans any form of measuring, accounting, people telling other people what to do
how we gather in a space is huge.. need to try spaces of permission where people have nothing to prove to facil curiosity over decision making.. because the finite set of choices of decision making is unmooring us.. keeping us from us..
ie: imagine if we listen to the itch-in-8b-souls 1st thing everyday & use that data to connect us (tech as it could be.. ai as augmenting interconnectedness)
the thing we’ve not yet tried/seen: the unconditional part of left to own devices ness
[‘in an undisturbed ecosystem ..the individual left to its own devices.. serves the whole’ –dana meadows]
there’s a legit use of tech (nonjudgmental exponential labeling) to facil the seeming chaos of a global detox leap/dance..
ie: whatever for a year.. a legit sabbatical ish transition
otherwise we’ll keep perpetuating the same song.. the whac-a-mole-ing ness of sea world.. of not-us ness.. of part\ial ness.. perpetuating survival triage.. for (blank)’s sake..
via sentiers site [https://sentiers.media/author/patrick/]:
Patrick Tanguay
Autodidact. Generalist. Synthesist. Curator of the weekly Sentiers, a newsletter to understand the world and imagine better futures.
Montreal
via google’s ai overview of ‘sentiers, patrick tanuay’:
Sentiers is an eclectic weekly newsletter and media project curated by Patrick Tanguay. Designed for generalists and inquisitive thinkers, it acts as a “futures thinking observatory,” exploring how technology, society, and culture intersect while highlighting early signals of change to help imagine better futures. [1, 2, 3, 4]
Tanguay—a self-described autodidact, synthesist, and former Alpine Review co-editor—fills Sentiers with thoughtfully commented links and essays spanning complex ideas. [1, 2, 3]
Key themes frequently covered in Sentiers include:
- Technology & Society: How AI and emerging tech influence human behavior, cities, and digital networks.
- Signals of Change: Identifying shifting global paradigms before they hit the mainstream.
- Futurism: Challenging conventional models and exploring prospective futures in an increasingly complex world. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
You can explore past editions and subscribe to the newsletter on the Sentiers Website. You can also read Tanguay’s shorter reflections on the Patrick Tanguay Personal Website or connect with him directly via his LinkedIn Profile. [1]
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be you. 