The case for chasing ‘interestingness’

Without any new human imagination, all AI will get commoditised over time, argues Subramanian Krishnan, as he makes a case to save humanity from the march of the algorithm.

Let’s face it. As a human race, we have now been chatGPT-ised. Sounds awfully close to chastised, doesn’t it. But that is a topic for another day.

We have several real world challenges. Climate change, poverty, a cure for cancer; to name a few.

But we have chosen to be fascinated by this new algorithm that pretends to be conversational like humans. It picks up whatever is available on the internet and regurgitates it back to us in human-like sentences. This has opened the flood gates on various other AI tools that can mimic human actions like art, stories, translations, text-to-voice, manipulated photographs, copy writing and even business ideas.

The essential underlying truth remains – Artificial Intelligence regurgitates aggregated human intelligence at scale. In other words, without any new human imagination, all AI would get commoditised over time. In a twisted perverse way, AI needs human imagination to feed it new data, new possibilities, new horizons.

However, our fascination with technology has resulted in an abject willingness to become a slave to its outputs. Jevons Paradox states, “Things that were meant to make our lives easier simply tempt us to put more things on our plates, increasing the amount that we work, while wreaking havoc on our well-being”. And this is why, the author believes that, we need to add human imagination (or the lack of it!) to the list of forthcoming real world challenges.

So, how do we save Human Imagination from the clutches of the algorithm? How do we help ourselves stay one step ahead of the machine?

Imagination is fuelled by interestingness.

For us to imagine is to think about what could become. We tend to believe that we imagine from a blank slate. But, in our hearts, we know that our imagination is a slave to our upbringing, our values, our experiences and our memories.

Our imagination springs forth from what we have found interesting in our past. It needs the fodder of prior interestingness. It takes a leap into the unknown from the brain bank of thought-provoking memories. As an anonymous person once said, “There are no new ideas under the sun. All ideas are a remixed interpretation of previously interesting ideas.”

To be imaginative needs us to continuously enrich our deposits of interestingness.

Interestingness is a quality that captures our attention and draws us in. It is a subjective concept that eludes definition. While elusive, interestingness plays a vital role in how we engage with the world around us. Whether we are reading a book, watching a movie, or having a conversation with someone, we are seeking out interesting experiences that captivate us and broaden our understanding of the world. It pushes us to imagine what can be.

At its core, interestingness is all about novelty and surprise. When something is new and unexpected, it catches our attention and engages our curiosity. We are drawn to things that challenge our assumptions and expand our understanding of what is possible. This is why we often find ourselves drawn to topics and experiences that are outside of our comfort zone, as they offer us the opportunity to learn something new and exciting.

To be interesting, it has to be surprising.

Research has shown that surprise is linked to the release of dopamine, a neurotransmitter that is associated with pleasure and reward. When we encounter something that is unexpected or novel, our brains release dopamine, which can create a sense of pleasure and excitement.

But, not all surprises are created equal. Surprises that are too overwhelming or too threatening can trigger the release of stress hormones like cortisol, which can lead to a sense of discomfort or anxiety. To create a sense of pleasant surprise, it’s important to strike a balance between the unexpected and the familiar.

Which brings us to the next variable in interestingness – familiarity or emotional resonance. When we encounter something that resonates with us on an emotional level, we are more likely to find it interesting and engaging. Whether it is a heart- warming story, a suspenseful thriller, or a thought-provoking idea, the things that move us emotionally are the things that continue to hold our interest over time.

But interestingness is not just about novelty and emotion. It is also about complexity and depth. When we encounter something that is multifaceted and intellectually challenging, we are more likely to find it interesting and rewarding. This is why we are often drawn to topics and experiences that need us to think critically and engage with complex ideas. Whether it is a dense philosophical treatise or a complex scientific theory, the things that challenge our intellect and expand our understanding of the world are the things that we find most interesting.

To summarise all of the above as a mathematical equation:
Imagination = fn Interestingness (Surprise X Resonance X Complexity)

It is only natural that what we find interesting can vary widely from person to person. What one person finds fascinating and engaging may be completely uninteresting to another person. This is because interestingness is shaped by our unique experiences, preferences, and perspectives. What is interesting to one person may be mundane or uninteresting to another, and vice versa.

Ultimately, interestingness is a quality that links back to human imagination, while being deeply intertwined with our personal experience. It is what drives us to seek

out new experiences, learn new things, and broaden our understanding of the world. We are constantly seeking out interesting experiences that challenge us, move us, and expand our horizons.

Pursue interestingness like a pig pursues truffles (Sorry, David!). Go chasing the surprising, the delectable, the new, the exotic, the foreign and the alien. And the next time you find something interesting, pause a while. Allow it swirl in your mind, unlock some neurons in your brain and spark your imagination.

After all, it is only your imagination that can save humanity from the march of the algorithm.