What happens when AI, deep fake and ChatGPT posts surface real feelings about people that don't exist?

Yesterday morning I woke up and caught myself scrolling on LinkedIn. Despite knowing this is not the thing to do on a Monday morning, a notification said open now, so I did.

The post told the story of a young man from a township who, with no parents, no money and sheer grit, graduated from school and then started a school himself. I commented. I wanted to run to the township, offer support, introduce thinking skills, even run a Thinking Academy program for them. Turns out he came from ChatGPT, and my heart turned to hatred. Before reacting, I paused, took stock, and decided to think differently. What actually happened?

Feeling over facts

When I read the post I was viscerally moved. Moved as I was, I stopped paying attention and never questioned whether it was real. Consider how quickly we move to action when we are emotionally moved. When last did you pause and ask a different question?

Paying attention

One of my favourite books is Constructive Living by David Reynolds. Near the beginning he writes, life is attention. It stuck with me, and my later work with de Bono, who built a course called Direct Attention Thinking Tools, reminded me that we all get what we pay attention to. Once we focus on one thing we run into confirmation bias and fail to see the situation from other angles.

"Perception influences emotion just as emotion influences perception."

Changing direction

My instinct was to unlike the post and delete my comment. Instead I edited it, flagged that it was edited, and shared my response. Rather than judge, I used it as a learning opportunity, applying the 4D principle:

1. Discern: know what is real.
2. Decipher: make sense of what you get.
3. Decide: pause and feel before you choose.
4. Do: take action with head and heart.

Three lessons

• There is power in storytelling. Listen carefully, because some stories are simply stories.
• Do not react. Pause, think, then decide how to respond.
• We live in a world where most want to be heard and seen, and where even bad publicity is still publicity.

Happy thinking, Nicola.