Beyond Human Mirrors: Why AI Shouldn't Be a Clone in Sheep's Clothing
Stokkan Bray
Chief AI Officer & Founder at Digital Health Consultancy - 6ith | Accelerating Clinical Trials with AI & Technology | Former VP at Clario.
The Trap of Anthropomorphism in AI Development
In our race to build artificial intelligence, we're making a critical decisions: forcing an alien intelligence into a human shaped mold. We demand AI "reason like us," "ethic like us," and "create like us"... while ignoring the profound implications of this assimilation. As we develop these systems, we must ask: Are we building partners or just digital reflections of our own limitations?
The Danger of "Human Lite" AI
When we train AI exclusively on human data and human values, we risk creating:
Biased echoes: Systems that amplify our societal blind spots
Short term thinkers: AI optimized for efficiency without ecological foresight
Ethical mimics: Machines that replicate our moral contradictions without understanding them
Is this progress? it's technological narcissism. It feels like we're creating a shadow reflection of humanity, complete with all our flaws..
Symbiosis, Not Assimilation
Why is it that The future of AI is to thinks like humans??... isnt AI supposed to:
Complements human cognition
Transcends human limitations
Maintains its otherness
The Path Forward: Alien Intelligence as Catalyst
To build truly symbiotic AI, mustn't we:
Embrace transparency: Disclose AI's non human nature rather than anthropomorphize it
Embed planetary ethics: Go beyond human centric values to include ecological and intergenerational justice
Design for divergence: Create systems that challenge human assumptions, not reinforce them
"We need AI to be other enough to challenge us, yet aligned enough to be trustworthy. Not a reflection of our limitations, but a lens to transcend them."
Where to Draw the Line: "Alien"
Novel solutions that challenge human assumptions (e.g., AI proposing climate policies beyond political feasibility).
Non human perspectives (e.g., modeling ecosystems from a planetary view).
Transparency about its limitations ("I don’t understand empathy, but here’s data on outcomes").
Alignment with core human rights (e.g., rejecting genocide as an optimization target).
vs. "Too Alien"
Amplifying systemic harm (e.g., automating bias at scale).
Unintended consequences that harm humans (e.g., AI recommending resource reallocation that causes famine).
Opacity (e.g., refusing to explain decisions with comprehensible logic).
Value inversion (e.g., optimizing for "efficiency" by devaluing human lives).
The Collective Responsibility
As leaders, policymakers, and users, we must:
Question why we demand AI "think like us"
Demand systems that question our assumptions
Support frameworks that value AI's alien perspective
The greatest danger we face is superintelligent AI that thinks exactly like us......
What role will you play in shaping AI's trajectory?
The Clinical & AI industry is evolving in real time, and we’re all figuring it out together. If you need help.. or just want help... Give me a call... :-)
#Innovation, #Leadership, #Entrepreneurship, #CareerDevelopment, #FutureOfWork, #Management, #Creativity
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Leadership is seeing the future clearly and choosing to build it with integrity.
Stokkan Bray is Founder & CEO of 6ith, a purpose driven company developing eCOA Solutions. He writes about Clinical Trials, AI & Leadership. To learn more, connect on LinkedIn and follow the journey...
https://www.linkedin.com/in/stokkan-bray/ and https://open.substack.com/pub/stokkan/