You may have noticed a lot of people talking about the debate between AI and human intelligence. One video that I found especially well done was from Daniel Pink, the author of, “A Whole New Mind.” In this video, he mentions six advantages that humans have over AI, and there are three that especially resonated with me. They are:
1. Our curiosity, or the ability to ask meaningful questions.
2. Our discernment, or the ability to use our values to choose which answers to embrace or reject
3. What Daniel Pink calls, “our moral integrity,” or the sum of our traits and characteristics that make up who we are.

Let’s look at these one at a time, and also take a look at how neuroscience plays a role in using each to become more influential in our lives and the lives of others.

• First, our ability to ask meaningful questions:
AI is good at answers but not so good at questions. Humans can be great at asking meaningful questions… if… we are coming from the clear, confident, creative, intelligent part of the brain. For those of you who follow my, “Life from the Top of the Mind,” philosophy, you know that how the brain processes data can have a huge impact on our experience of life. Plus, you know that I like to simplify what is a very complex organ by dividing the brain into three parts, lower brain or brainstem, middle brain or limbic system, and the upper 80% of the brain called the neocortex (what I call the “Top of the Mind”).

All is well until we find ourselves dealing with a difficult person or difficult situation. When this happens, the middle brain triggers chemicals (adrenaline and cortisol) and engages the lower, fight-or-flight part of the brain, or the brainstem. We then experience this engagement as stress, frustration, resentment, anger, etc., which can have us asking what I call BS (or brainstem) questions, such as: “What is wrong with this person?” – “Why won’t they listen to me?” – “Who taught this idiot to drive?” Or, “Why do I let these people get to me? I know better than that!” The problem here is that we are asking questions that come from the part of the brain that doesn’t think, it just reacts. Plus, this lower 20% of the brain is mostly unconscious, which means that we may not even be aware that the questions we are asking aren’t helpful.

Therefore, to access our uniquely human advantage of asking meaningful questions, we must engage the upper 80% of the brain, or the Top of the Mind. Which means we must ask what I call “Top of the Mind” questions.

• The first one is: “Has this thought, emotion, or behavior been chosen on purpose?” Most people say that they don’t get stressed, frustrated and/angry “on purpose” so that would be a “No.”

• The Second Top of the Mind question is: “How is this working for me? Is it helping me be more effective?” Most would say that while these reactions are understandable, they don’t help us be more effective, so that would also be a “No.”

• The third meaningful question goes a bit deeper. It asks: “Is this the way I want to be defined?” Most would say that they don’t want to be someone who is “defined,” or made to feel a certain way by difficult people or situations, so this would also be a “No.”

• And, finally, the fourth question (which might be more powerful than all three combined), “Would I teach or recommend this way of being to someone I love?” Frankly, I have never met anyone who would teach or recommend someone they love be stressed, angry, or frustrated so this is definitely a “No!”

The good news is that now we have more information about the problem, but we haven’t crafted a solution. Therefore, I suggest that we use these same questions to determine how we do want to respond versus react. We can ask: “If I were responding to this particular person or situation on purpose, in a way I believe will be effective, in a way that defines me or makes a statement about who I am, and, in a way I would teach or recommend to someone I love, what would that look like?

When I ask the participants in my seminars these questions, they come up with wonderful answers such as calm, patient, empathetic, as well as clear, confident, influential and resilient. This blends the second and third advantages that we humans have over AI, the ability to discern or make decisions based on our values, and determine our “moral Integrity,” or the qualities and characteristics that make up who we are.

What is important here is that these questions and answers all come from the neocortex, or the Top of the Mind, which means that if we want to have confidence in our abilities as humans over AI, we must be coming from this clear, confident, creative part of the brain. This is what I go around the world teaching.

~ All the best, Dr. Bill

In addition to being named Speaker of the Year for organizations in both the United States and Canada, Dr. Bill Crawford holds a masters degree and PhD in psychology from the University of Houston. He is also a licensed psychologist, author of eight books, and organizational consultant. Over the last 40 + years, he has created more than 4,500 presentations for such organizations as T-Mobile, Shell, The American Medical Association, PBS and many other organizations and professional associations, both nationally and internationally. In addition, his two PBS specials on stress and communication have been seen by more than 15 million people, and he has been quoted as an expert in such diverse publications as The New York Times, Entrepreneur, The Chicago Tribune, Investor’s Business Daily, and Working Mother, just to name a few.