One way that I think AI is likely to have a significant impact on our lives is by filtering the world for us.

AI is just starting to control1 computers2, beginning with web browsers, and it’s easy to envision that they will eventually be given sufficient access to our devices such that they can filter, censor, and guard us from unwanted content or experiences. This is on top of seeking out information we want or need.

Imagine you have a goal, X, and you give the AI the following prompt:

Do not expose me to anything, across all of my devices, that will distract me from accomplishing X. Further, do what you can to help me accomplish X.

There are numerous ways this could go wrong3. It could block a timely message from someone. It could inundate you with more information than you could possibly process. But, if done well, could it help you accomplish things you previously couldn’t or wouldn’t? I think so.

Our AIs will be our teachers, mentors, companions, coaches, cheerleaders, and more. They will protect us from the mind viruses we don’t want and expose us to the ones we do want. We already tell them what we want and they tell us what to do to get it. It’s a new world.

  1. Introducing computer use, a new Claude 3.5 Sonnet, and Claude 3.5 Haiku ↩

  2. Introducing Operator ↩

  3. I am intentionally ignoring the worst case, Terminator-like, scenarios here and envisioning AIs that have properly scoped access to our devices. ↩