Several things made big impressions on me at our recently held annual Drink & Think Soiree. Among the most important were (1) our Guest of Honour’s expressed delight at the diversity of the audience (2) the willingness of participants to speak frankly and politely when their views differed from other people’s. Both these assessments mirror what we have tried to do with all our Drink & Think events over the last eighteen years. A big thank-you to those who took part. You will certainly be invited to the 2026 Drink & Think.
Nik Mehta, British High Commissioner, spoke on the subject of Turbulent World and included some valuable thoughts about AI. The effect this is already having on us demands attention whatever is under discussion. That is because, in AI, our technological aspect comes into conflict with the humanitarian side of our personalities. If you study philosophical views about who we are, you will find observations, sometimes amounting to criticisms, of the point at which our emotions clash with, and defeat, our reason – often significantly.
Here I must declare a bias. From what I have learnt in my life I rate our feelings as important as our logic. Not, of course, all the time. We must run our planet reasonably or we shall end up bankrupt or scorched to death. We must live reasonably if we want an orderly life. But if we want happiness we must feel, sense and love in ways that are not measurable and that cannot be bought. I regard the human-sensing part of our make-up the biggest contributor to our ability to have a useful and enjoyable life.
After 93 years of working on it, I am happy to say that I have things in my heart and in my memory that will stay with me forever. They were not bought with money, nor were they only learnt lessons. Many people and diverse events contributed to their existence. So did I.
What do they amount to? In a nutshell, confidence. Not in the belief of something greater yet to come, not because I have had a marginally good life, not even because I may have helped some people make more of their lives than they might otherwise have achieved. Confidence is not conviction. In fact it is more often a question, a puzzle. It is that life is worthwhile.
That inevitably means that there must be more to come, that the future is what counts. It does not deny the past and it relishes the memories of the best of what has gone before. But, like a builder who appreciates the foundation of his construction, the vision must be of the completed house, not simply the shell. Completion will come for the people after me but it will be on the foundation I helped to lay.
To cope with AI we must see the human we are building for the future.
If someone had said even twenty years ago that humankind would be able to determine its future form they would have been denounced as heretical or insane or even dangerous. Now we see the big tech companies ploughing almost unpronounceable sums of money to provide a free service second to none other we have experienced so far. To what do we attribute this unbridled benevolence? Capitalism does many good things for us. It always demands a return. That can be in cash or control. If AI investment returns dividends it will be a long way into the future.The return of ‘control’ is already happening.
By all means be mesmerised by the Alternative Intelligence you are making your indispensable friend. You must train it. Teach it what you want it to make humanity.
It will do what you ask.
But not for long.
Good morning
John Bittleston
How? Express your views to everyone in authority.
And to us, please, at [email protected].
22 September 2025
