Super-human artificial intelligence (SHAI) will come. To be able to deal with it, we will need to understand how it thinks. Yes, it will think, much in the same way as humans do, but with a much larger capacity. That is what I mean with super-human intelligence.

Before we can understand SHAI thinking, we must understand our own thinking. Especially we need to know its limitations, the point where we have to say "sorry, this is beyond what can be captured in human concepts".

Thinking cannot be understood by more thinking. We need episodes of non-thinking to step back and observe. When you are without thoughts and are able to catch the first thought that pops into your head, you are on track to learn a few new things. Your first thought might be "Now, what is the purpose of all this non-thinking!?". And then, only when you are alert enough, you might feel a little surprize, where did this voice come from? Indeed, that is what it is, a voice-in-the head. It speaks with the sound of your own voice and in a natural language (I discovered that I think in English quite often, even while Dutch is my first language). The next moment you are back in thinking, meaning that you don't hear the voice anymore, you have become identified with the voice.

Eastern philosophy can teach a lot about these things, Tao Te Ching and other books. My favorite is Eckhart Tolle, The Power of Now, because he gives a more western view. But even Eckhart Tolle can talk in very vague terms, and you may not like that. But what he says really doesn't matter too much. The only thing that is important in his teachings is that you learn to take a break from compulsive thinking.

Ok, this might all be familiar stuff for you. Yet, this is all not too well integrated with modern philosophy. For instance, I often hear philosophers talk about consciousness being caused by thinking. I can testify that it is not the case, and you can find out for yourself.

When I woke up after a heart surgery, 5 years ago, my memory was completely blank. I didn't know my own name. No memory no thinking, yet I was perfectly conscious. Since that time this happens to me on a daily basis, although my memory does not drop out completely anymore. Without thoughts, I can eat my lunch, make coffee perfectly. When somebode asks something simple, I can answer. But cooking a meal is challenging, because I need to make decisions.

I believe this non-thinking state is similar to what animals experience. Some animals have learned a few words, but as far as I know, they do not have these trains of thoughts like we humans have. I don't think they have words that imply causality, for instance.

Current AI works much the same as animal brains. I will not address AI consciousness here, that is a topic on its own. But the way it operates looks similar to how animals behave, in a kind of linear way from input to output. And even while ChatGPT operates on text, internally this text is just data. But this also is discussion for a later date. I just want to point out here what the relation is between this non-thinking business and our understanding of AI.

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Human thinking is reaching the end of its usability. The world is too complex for humans to understand it and coordinate it. I read this article on the forum https://thephilosophyforum.com/discussion/15497/quo-vadis-united-kingdom . I am not a pessimist by nature, but the signs are clear. Modern society is destroying itself. The place for change is here, on this forum. But we need real answers, not a succession of thoughts.