Healing a Divided Nation: An 11-Step Path to Unity Through Human and AI Partnership

December 1, 2024

By Ralph Losey, December 1, 2024.

Political polarization in the United States has reached unprecedented levels, threatening the nation’s social fabric and democratic processes. To tackle this growing crisis, this article proposes a streamlined, three-phase, eleven-step framework developed collaboratively with today’s leading AIs, ChatGPT and Google Gemini. This plan, grounded in practicality and inclusivity, focuses on empowering individuals, communities, and institutions to rebuild trust and unity. By addressing issues like civic education, media literacy, local leadership, and electoral integrity, the framework seeks to heal our ‘House-Divided’ through incremental, measurable steps.

Image by Ralph Losey using current Word Press version of Stable Diffusion.

Introduction to the Plan to Start to Heal a Divided Country

The Plan to repair the ‘house-divided’ has three stages.

  1. First Phase: Laying the Groundwork for Unity — This phase focuses on creating the foundational conditions necessary for rebuilding trust and collaboration among Americans. By promoting civic education, fostering empathy through dialogue, and empowering local leaders, Phase 1 sets the stage for more transformative change in later phases.
  2. Second Phase: Collaborative Action for Polarization Reduction — This phase focuses on actionable steps to combat the root causes of division in media, technology, and communities. By empowering citizens with media literacy skills, reforming technology use, and fostering collaborative projects, Phase 2 works to reduce polarization in tangible, visible ways.
  3. Third Phase: Sustaining Unity Through Systemic Change — This final phase ensures the sustainability of unity efforts through systemic reforms that foster fairness, reduce inequality, and create a culture of empathy and collaboration. By addressing both institutional and cultural dimensions, this phase solidifies long-term reconciliation.

By systematically addressing polarization through these structured phases, the plan provides a practical roadmap for rebuilding unity in America. The early phases focus on achievable, visible goals—like empowering local communities and fostering collaboration—while later phases lay the groundwork for systemic, long-term reforms. This phased approach ensures that resources are used effectively, progress is measurable, and the plan can adapt to evolving challenges and feedback.

Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

First Phase: Laying the Groundwork for Unity

  • Step 1: Encourage Local Leadership and Autonomy
  • Step 2: Promote Civic Education and Shared American Identity
  • Step 3: Foster Empathy Through Cross-Group Dialogue and Perspective-Taking


Second Phase: Collaborative Action for Polarization Reduction

  • Step 4: Promote Media Literacy and Trusted Information Ecosystems
  • Step 5: Promote Ethical Technology Use and Respectful Online Engagement
  • Step 6: Incentivize Community Collaboration on Shared Issues
  • Step 7: Create Platforms for Bipartisan Citizen Engagement

Third Phase 3: Sustaining Unity Through Systemic Change

  • Step 8: Build Trust in Electoral Integrity
  • Step 9: Support Bipartisan Political Reforms
  • Step 10: Address Socioeconomic Disparities
  • Step 11: Embed Empathy and Perspective-Taking into Institutions
Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Ralph Losey’s Personal Comments on the AI Plan

The AI plan is thorough, strategic, and complex. It feels like a multidimensional game of chess, well beyond my abilities, where each proposed action somehow relates to and supports the others. The AIs examined data on our current dangerous situation and anticipated pushback from both sides of the political spectrum. To handle this, the AI plan includes multiple non-violent strategies to counter resistance, encourage respectful debate, and even manage expected bad-faith opposition. The plan includes specific steps to bridge existing ideological divides. It’s a solid framework that could work, but it will take years of hard social effort to succeed.

Alternatively, an AGI-level artificial intelligence with full autonomy could accomplish this work faster, possibly behind the scenes. The AI in this plan isn’t saying it would do that, nor does it have that capability now. I’m only suggesting that someday it might. Some people would welcome that kind of intervention—perhaps even prefer it—if the alternative was catastrophic enough. One day, a more advanced AI could ‘go rogue,’ either subtly influencing us so we believe we’re choosing unity ourselves or simply forcing us to come together, like it or not.

Personally, I believe a lasting peace will require a joint human-AI effort, rather than one imposed solely by AI. But let’s set idealism aside for a moment. If the choice came down to AI stepping in to act on our behalf or facing near-certain extinction—with the loss of future generations at stake—what would you choose? Should AI intervene to prevent our self-destruction as a necessary fail-safe?”

Image of superintelligent AI by Ralph Losey, Stable Diffusion.

Development of the Eleven Point Plan to Unify America

The eleven-step plan was developed collaboratively by Ralph Losey with the help of EDRM using two of today’s leading AI systems, ChatGPT and Google Gemini. The AI contributed insights based on their training and updated social-divide related data as of November 2024. The plan evolved through a lengthy process of step-by-step, iterative refinement, which included AI adversarial debate techniques.

To ensure the plan’s rigor and balance, these AI systems debated initial drafts, highlighting areas of disagreement and proposing alternative approaches. As a litigator and arbitrator, Ralph was able to resolve the AI debates, subject to additional revisions and input from EDRM’s CEO, Mary Mack. This approach mirrors recent advancements in AI research on the verification and oversight of large language models (LLMs) through adversarial debate techniques, including those described in studies by DeepMind and Anthropic. See: Khan, Hughes, Valentine, Ruis, Sachan, Radhakrishnan, Grefenstette, Bowman, RocktÅNaschel, Perez, Debating with More Persuasive LLMs Leads to More Truthful Answers (Anthropic, 7/25/24); Kenton, Siegel, Kramár, Brown-Cohen, Albanie, Bulian, Agarwal, Lindner, Tang, Goodman, Shah, On scalable oversight with weak LLMs judging strong LLMs (Deep Mind, 7/12/24).

In addition to these adversarial methods, Ralph’s prompt engineering relied heavily upon AI’s Theory of Mind (ToM) capabilities, as discovered by Michal Kosinski, a computational psychologist at Stanford. Evaluating large language models in theory of mind tasks (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences “PNAS,” 11/04/24).ToM refers to people’s ability to understand the minds of others. This ability recently and surprisingly emerged in the latest generative AI models. This will be discussed in Ralph’s next article, GPT-4 Breakthrough: Emerging Theory of Mind Capabilities in AI.

While neither ChatGPT nor Google Gemini have attained superintelligence, their combined ability to synthesize diverse perspectives and anticipate challenges far exceeded Ralph’s intelligence. He felt like he was playing checkers while the two AIs were playing 3D chess. But ultimately with the help of EDRM’s CEO, Mary Mack, a practical eleven-point plan emerged. The hybrid collaborative process—pairing AI’s analytical capabilities with human values and expertise—can serve as a model for future efforts to tackle complex issues.

Eleven-Step Plan to Unify America

Next we share a bullet-point overview of AI’s eleven-step plan. Each step includes a general description, implementation strategy, expected obstacles and strategies to address resistance, specific action items, and an evaluation and assessment procedure. This comprehensive structure acknowledges the need for a phased approach to address the challenges of polarization while ensuring that each step is achievable, measurable, and strategically aligned with the plan’s broader goals.

Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

First Phase: Laying the Groundwork for Unity

Step 1: Encourage Local Leadership and Autonomy

  • Description:
    • Objective: Empower local communities and leaders to design and lead unity-building initiatives tailored to their unique challenges and needs.
    • Impact: Locally driven solutions foster trust, respect for diversity, and collaboration, creating momentum for national reconciliation.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Partner with local governments, civic organizations, and businesses to establish pilot programs for unity initiatives.
    • Provide training and resources for local leaders to design and execute projects addressing their community’s specific needs.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Resistance from communities skeptical of external involvement.
      • Strategy: Frame initiatives as community-driven efforts, offering support without mandates.
    • Obstacle: Limited funding or capacity in underserved areas.
      • Strategy: Target underserved communities first with federal or philanthropic grants to ensure equitable participation.
  • Action Items:
    • Create a “Local Unity Fund” to support grassroots projects.
    • Develop a toolkit for local leaders with templates for successful programs.
    • Host regional leadership summits to share best practices.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Track the number and diversity of participating communities.
    • Measure changes in local collaboration through surveys and attendance at initiatives.
    • Assess the scalability of successful pilot programs.
Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Step 2: Promote Civic Education and Shared American Identity

  • Description:
    • Objective: Strengthen civic understanding by implementing nonpartisan education programs that reflect the diverse perspectives and shared values of all Americans. See e.g. Educating for American Democracy.
    • Impact: Better civic knowledge and a stronger sense of common purpose across divides, fostering long-term unity.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Develop and distribute nonpartisan civic education curricula in schools, focusing on democratic values and diverse historical perspectives.
    • Collaborate with educators and bipartisan advisors to ensure inclusivity and balance.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Resistance to perceived bias in curricula.
      • Strategy: Include representatives from across the political spectrum to review materials.
    • Obstacle: Uneven access to educational resources in underserved areas.
      • Strategy: Partner with libraries and online platforms to offer free resources.
  • Action Items:
    • Launch a public awareness campaign highlighting the importance of civic education.
    • Train teachers in unbiased delivery of content through workshops.
    • Host civic education fairs to engage students and communities.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Pre- and post-assessments of students’ civic knowledge.
    • Feedback from educators and parents on curriculum effectiveness.
    • Monitor participation rates in civic education programs across regions.
Stable Diffusion image by Ralph Losey of one of his heroes.

Step 3: Foster Empathy Through Cross-Group Dialogue and Perspective-Taking

  • Description:
    • Objective: Facilitate structured dialogue and role-playing exercises to help individuals understand differing perspectives and reduce stereotypes.
    • Impact: Greater empathy and mutual respect among community members, creating a foundation for civil discourse and collaboration.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Organize structured dialogues in community centers, schools, and workplaces.
    • Use skilled facilitators trained in conflict resolution to guide discussions.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Fear of hostility or unproductive confrontations.
      • Strategy: Begin with low-stakes topics to build trust before addressing contentious issues.
    • Obstacle: Limited participant diversity.
      • Strategy: Actively recruit participants from varied political, cultural, and socioeconomic backgrounds.
  • Action Items:
    • Develop a “Community Conversation Kit” with guidelines and materials.
    • Train and certify dialogue facilitators in conflict resolution techniques.
    • Partner with local media to promote dialogue events.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Track attendance and demographic diversity at events.
    • Conduct post-event surveys to measure changes in attitudes and understanding.
    • Review the number of dialogues held and repeat participation rates.
Image of the right way to argue by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Second Phase: Collaborative Action for Polarization Reduction

Step 4: Promote Media Literacy and Trusted Information Ecosystems

  • Description:
    • Objective: Equip citizens with tools to critically evaluate media, identify misinformation, and access credible, transparent news sources.
    • Impact: Increased trust in information and critical thinking across political divides
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Partner with schools, libraries, and community organizations to offer media literacy workshops.
    • Provide accessible, age-appropriate online resources and tools.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Mistrust in media education initiatives.
      • Strategy: Position media literacy as a neutral, empowering skill for all citizens, not tied to specific political goals.
    • Obstacle: Limited reach in rural or underserved communities.
      • Strategy: Use digital platforms and mobile outreach programs to ensure broad access.
  • Action Items:
    • Create a national “Truth Detectives” campaign to promote media literacy.
    • Develop a public service announcement series on recognizing misinformation.
    • Train teachers and community leaders in delivering media literacy education.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Conduct pre- and post-workshop assessments of media literacy skills.
    • • Track participation rates in workshops and online programs.
    • • Monitor community feedback on the effectiveness of resources.
Image of entranced social media users by Ralph Losey.

Step 5: Promote Ethical Technology Use and Respectful Online Engagement

  • Description:
    • Objective: Collaborate with tech companies to reduce the amplification of divisive content, create algorithms that reward civil discourse, and promote transparency in digital engagement.
    • Impact: A safer and more respectful digital environment where diverse voices can coexist.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Collaborate with tech companies to redesign algorithms that amplify divisive content.
    • Advocate for transparency in content moderation and targeted advertising practices.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Resistance from tech companies due to profitability concerns.
      • Strategy: Frame ethical tech reforms as improving user experience and public trust.
    • Obstacle: Fear of censorship among users.
      • Strategy: Clearly communicate the goals and processes of content moderation.
  • Action Items:
    • Develop a “Civility Certification Program” for tech platforms.
    • Fund research into the impact of algorithm changes on polarization.
    • Launch public awareness campaigns about respectful online interaction.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Monitor changes in user behavior and engagement patterns on platforms.
    • Analyze feedback from users on platform safety and fairness.
    • Measure decreases in divisive content amplification over time
Certificate winners. Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Step 6: Incentivize Community Collaboration on Shared Issues

  • Description:
    • Objective: Support nonpartisan local projects addressing universal challenges like infrastructure, public health, or environmental sustainability.
    • Impact: Builds trust and cooperation through shared problem-solving, reducing polarization at the community level.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Identify local, nonpartisan projects like disaster relief or environmental cleanups that encourage diverse participation.
    • Provide financial incentives and public recognition for successful collaborations.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Risk of political framing of projects.
      • Strategy: Focus exclusively on universal, nonpartisan issues like infrastructure or public safety.
    • Obstacle: Limited interest in participation.
      • Strategy: Offer small grants and public awards to increase motivation.
  • Action Items:
    • Launch a “Community Builders Fund” to support local initiatives.
    • Create a recognition program like “Hometown Heroes” to reward collaborative projects.
    • Partner with businesses to provide matching grants.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Measure participation rates and project outcomes.
    • Conduct surveys on perceptions of community trust and collaboration.
    • Track the diversity of participants in funded projects.
Image of bipartisan local project planning by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion

Step 7: Create Platforms for Bipartisan Citizen Engagement

  • Description:
    • Objective: Establish spaces—both virtual and physical—where citizens can collaborate on shared goals, such as disaster response or public safety, regardless of political affiliation. See e.g. PurpleAmerica’s Substack.
    • Impact: Strengthened civic ties through visible, cooperative efforts.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Develop virtual forums and in-person town halls where citizens can collaborate on shared interests.
    • Use AI tools to facilitate discussions and propose solutions.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Low initial participation.
      • Strategy: Partner with trusted community leaders and influencers to promote platforms.
    • Obstacle: Risk of unproductive debates.
      • Strategy: Moderate discussions with trained facilitators and AI tools.
  • Action Items:
    • Launch a bipartisan “Citizen Voices” platform for virtual collaboration.
    • Host regional and national citizen summits to address shared concerns.
    • Provide small grants for citizen-proposed initiatives.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Track participation and project completion rates.
    • Assess user satisfaction and trust in the platforms.
    • Measure engagement on specific issues tackled by citizens.
Safe spaces to talk image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Third Phase: Sustaining Unity Through Systemic Change

Step 8: Build Trust in Electoral Integrity

  • Description:
    • Objective: Enhance public trust in elections through reforms like transparent vote audits, improved election technology, and accessible voting systems.
    • Impact: Restored confidence in democratic processes as a foundation for reconciliation.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Implement transparent vote audits and enhance election security technologies.
    • Provide voter education on electoral processes to reduce misinformation.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Perception of partisanship in reforms.
      • Strategy: Emphasize bipartisan oversight in all electoral integrity measures.
    • Obstacle: Technical and funding constraints.
      • Strategy: Partner with technology firms and civic organizations to develop cost-effective solutions.
  • Action Items:
    • Launch a “Trust the Vote” initiative to promote transparency.
    • Train election officials in secure, transparent practices.
    • Fund research into advanced election security systems.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Monitor changes in public trust in elections through surveys.
    • Track the implementation of election security measures.
    • Measure the effectiveness of voter education campaigns.
Trusted voting image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Step 9: Support Bipartisan Political Reforms

  • Description:
    • Objective: Advocate for initiatives like ranked-choice voting, independent redistricting, and transparency in governance to reduce partisanship and ensure fair representation.
    • Impact: Strengthened democratic systems that work for all Americans.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Form bipartisan coalitions to advocate for reforms like ranked-choice voting and independent redistricting.
    • Conduct public education campaigns on the benefits of these reforms.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Resistance from political leaders with vested interests.
      • Strategy: Emphasize reforms as democratic improvements, not partisan maneuvers.
    • Obstacle: Public misunderstanding of reforms.
      • Strategy: Use clear, accessible communication to explain the benefits.
  • Action Items:
    • Host informational sessions on political reform topics.
    • •Partner with civic groups to monitor reform implementation.
    • Launch a “Fair Votes, Fair Voices” campaign to raise awareness.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Track public support for reforms through surveys.
    • Measure implementation progress and voter turnout changes.
    • Assess diversity and collaboration in reformed political institutions.
Bipartisan reform image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

Step 10: Address Socioeconomic Disparities

  • Description:
    • Objective: Promote job creation, affordable healthcare, and equitable access to education while addressing regional disparities.
    • Impact: Reduced inequality and resentment, fostering shared purpose and unity
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Collaborate with local and national organizations to target regional economic disparities.
    • Fund education, job training, and healthcare access programs in underserved areas.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Political disagreements on economic policy.
      • Strategy: Focus on universal goals like job creation and affordable healthcare.
    • Obstacle: Resource allocation challenges.
      • Strategy: Use data-driven methods to prioritize high-need areas.
  • Action Items:
    • Expand funding for job training and retraining programs.
    • Develop housing and healthcare initiatives tailored to local needs.
    • Create economic development grants for underserved regions.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Track economic indicators like employment and poverty rates.
    • Assess the effectiveness of education and training programs through participant outcomes.
    • Monitor regional changes in economic opportunities
Rich and Poor: we’re all human. Image by Ralph Losey.

Step 11: Embed Empathy and Perspective-Taking into Institutions

  • Description:
    • Objective: Introduce programs in schools, workplaces, and public services that encourage empathy and collaboration.
    • Impact: A cultural shift toward mutual understanding and inclusion as the norm.
  • Implementation Strategy:
    • Partner with schools, workplaces, and public service organizations to integrate empathy and perspective-taking programs into their training and operations.
    • Use storytelling, role-playing, and other experiential methods to foster understanding of diverse perspectives.
  • Obstacles and Strategies:
    • Obstacle: Perception of empathy programs as unnecessary or ideological.
      • Strategy: Frame these programs as life skills that enhance communication, collaboration, and decision-making.
    • Obstacle: Limited resources for implementation.
      • Strategy: Develop scalable, low-cost online modules and leverage partnerships with local organizations.
  • Action Items:
    • Launch a “Walk in Their Shoes” initiative to provide empathy training in schools and workplaces.
    • Develop online resources, such as interactive videos and AI-driven role-playing tools, for empathy-building exercises.
    • Partner with media outlets to showcase real-life stories of empathy bridging divides.
  • Evaluation and Assessment:
    • Use pre- and post-program surveys to measure shifts in participants’ empathy levels and openness to diverse perspectives.
    • Track engagement rates with online resources and participation in training programs.
    • Analyze qualitative feedback from participants on the perceived impact of the initiatives.

Conclusion: Rebuilding America’s Unity Together

Healing America’s deep political divide is a monumental task, but with collective commitment and a clear plan, real progress is achievable. This eleven-step framework offers a pragmatic, inclusive path forward, addressing both the symptoms and root causes of polarization. By focusing on local empowerment, collaboration, and systemic reforms, the plan provides a roadmap for restoring trust, bridging divides, and fostering long-term unity.

While AI played an instrumental role in crafting this strategy, the true power to mend our ‘House Divided’ lies in our hands. As Abraham Lincoln reminded us in 1858, the strength of this nation depends on its people’s ability to unite in pursuit of a common purpose. Today, we have the tools, insights, and strategies to achieve this unity without the destructive conflicts of the past.

Image by Ralph Losey using Stable Diffusion.

This path will not be easy. It requires courage, collaboration, and a willingness to engage with those who hold differing views. Yet, by taking small, tangible steps—together—we can create a ripple effect of change that transforms communities and rebuilds our national fabric.

Will you join this effort? Will you champion a step, organize a dialogue, or lead a local initiative? The success of this plan depends on ordinary Americans committing to extraordinary efforts. Together, we can prove that the ideals of unity and democracy are more than just words; they are our collective reality.

Now listen to the EDRM Echoes of AI’s podcast of the article, Echoes of AI on AI’s 11-Step Plan for Unity. Hear two Gemini model AIs talk about this article. They wrote the podcast, not Ralph.

Pick one, or many, of the thirty-three projects outlined in the Plan to Unite America and let Ralph know at epluribusunum.ai. See here for more details on each of the 33 projects. Be part of the solution. Sign up for one today.

Ralph Losey Creative Commons Copyright 2024. Distribution of this document is encouraged with attribution, but do not modify without Losey’s permission.

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Posted by Ralph Losey

TAR Course Expands Again: Standardized Best Practice for Technology Assisted Review

February 11, 2018

The TAR Course has a new class, the Seventeenth Class: Another “Player’s View” of the Workflow. Several other parts of the Course have been updated and edited. It now has Eighteen Classes (listed at end). The TAR Course is free and follows the Open Source tradition. We freely disclose the method for electronic document review that uses the latest technology tools for search and quality controls. These technologies and methods empower attorneys to find the evidence needed for all text-based investigations. The TAR Course shares the state of the art for using AI to enhance electronic document review.

The key is to know how to use the document review search tools that are now available to find the targeted information. We have been working on various methods of use since our case before Judge Andrew Peck in Da Silva Moore in 2012. After we helped get the first judicial approval of predictive coding in Da Silva, we began a series of several hundred document reviews, both in legal practice and scientific experiments. We have now refined our method many times to attain optimal efficiency and effectiveness. We call our latest method Hybrid Multimodal IST Predictive Coding 4.0.

The Hybrid Multimodal method taught by the TARcourse.com combines law and technology. Successful completion of the TAR course requires knowledge of both fields. In the technology field active machine learning is the most important technology to understand, especially the intricacies of training selection, such as Intelligently Spaced Training (“IST”). In the legal field the proportionality doctrine is key to the  pragmatic application of the method taught at TAR Course. We give-away the information on the methods, we open-source it through this publication.

All we can transmit by online teaching is information, and a small bit of knowledge. Knowing the Information in the TAR Course is a necessary prerequisite for real knowledge of Hybrid Multimodal IST Predictive Coding 4.0. Knowledge, as opposed to Information, is taught the same way as advanced trial practice, by second chairing a number of trials. This kind of instruction is the one with real value, the one that completes a doc review project at the same time it completes training. We charge for document review and throw in the training. Information on the latest methods of document review is inherently free, but Knowledge of how to use these methods is a pay to learn process.

The Open Sourced Predictive Coding 4.0 method is applied for particular applications and search projects. There are always some customization and modifications to the default standards to meet the project requirements. All variations are documented and can be fully explained and justified. This is a process where the clients learn by doing and following along with Losey’s work.

What he has learned through a lifetime of teaching and studying Law and Technology is that real Knowledge can never be gained by reading or listening to presentations. Knowledge can only be gained by working with other people in real-time (or near-time), in this case, to carry out multiple electronic document reviews. The transmission of knowledge comes from the Q&A ESI Communications process. It comes from doing. When we lead a project, we help students to go from mere Information about the methods to real Knowledge of how it works. For instance, we do not just make the Stop decision, we also explain the decision. We share our work-product.

Knowledge comes from observing the application of the legal search methods in a variety of different review projects. Eventually some Wisdom may arise, especially as you recover from errors. For background on this triad, see Examining the 12 Predictions Made in 2015 in “Information → Knowledge → Wisdom” (2017). Once Wisdom arises some of the sayings in the TAR Course may start to make sense, such as our favorite “Relevant Is Irrelevant.” Until this koan is understood, the legal doctrine of Proportionality can be an overly complex weave.

The TAR Course is now composed of eighteen classes:

  1. First Class: Background and History of Predictive Coding
  2. Second Class: Introduction to the Course
  3. Third Class:  TREC Total Recall Track, 2015 and 2016
  4. Fourth Class: Introduction to the Nine Insights from TREC Research Concerning the Use of Predictive Coding in Legal Document Review
  5. Fifth Class: 1st of the Nine Insights – Active Machine Learning
  6. Sixth Class: 2nd Insight – Balanced Hybrid and Intelligently Spaced Training (IST)
  7. Seventh Class: 3rd and 4th Insights – Concept and Similarity Searches
  8. Eighth Class: 5th and 6th Insights – Keyword and Linear Review
  9. Ninth Class: 7th, 8th and 9th Insights – SME, Method, Software; the Three Pillars of Quality Control
  10. Tenth Class: Introduction to the Eight-Step Work Flow
  11. Eleventh Class: Step One – ESI Communications
  12. Twelfth Class: Step Two – Multimodal ECA
  13. Thirteenth Class: Step Three – Random Prevalence
  14. Fourteenth Class: Steps Four, Five and Six – Iterative Machine Training
  15. Fifteenth Class: Step Seven – ZEN Quality Assurance Tests (Zero Error Numerics)
  16. Sixteenth Class: Step Eight – Phased Production
  17. Seventeenth Class: Another “Player’s View” of the Workflow (class added 2018)
  18. Eighteenth Class: Conclusion

With a lot of hard work you can complete this online training program in a long weekend, but most people take a few weeks. After that, this course can serve as a solid reference to consult during complex document review projects. It can also serve as a launchpad for real Knowledge and eventually some Wisdom into electronic document review. TARcourse.com is designed to provide you with the Information needed to start this path to AI enhanced evidence detection and production.

 

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Posted by Ralph Losey

Examining the 12 Predictions Made in 2015 in “Information → Knowledge → Wisdom”

May 2, 2017

A little over two years ago, on April 5, 2015, my seminal world-view essay was published: Information → Knowledge → Wisdom: Progression of Society in the Age of Computers. I wrote about the rapid changes in society caused by personal computers and set out my theory of three stages of social development. This is my theory of the world, or as Thomas Friedman now puts it, a theory of how the Machine works. Thank You for Being Late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations (11/16/16) (“To be an opinion writer, you need to be carrying around a working hypothesis of how the Machine works. … If you don’t have a theory … you’ll either push it in a direction that doesn’t accord with your beliefs, or you won’t move it at all.)

hypothesis_testing-cycleThe Information → Knowledge → Wisdom essay included twelve predictions with a foolishly short timeline of only five to twenty years, from 2020 to 2035. As I explained in the essay, the purpose of these predictions was to test the accuracy of my hypothesis that we are in the first, dangerous Information stage of an Age of Computers and will quickly transition  to one based on knowledge. Either that, or we would all perish and otherwise slip into a dystopia. The Information stage of computer technology is that dangerous. The events of the past twelve months have proven that point to my satisfaction and great regret.

Predictions that test your theories are something that smart opinion writers like Thomas Friedman never do. The future is hard to predict. Predictions often fail and so discredit the author’s ideas. I knew this, but am more concerned with truth than success. If my theory of how the Machine works is wrong, no one wants to know this more than me. For this reason I was willing, even eager, to put my Information → Knowledge → Wisdom theory out there in 2015 for the future to judge as right or wrong. Time will tell if this was foolish or wise. By 2035, or maybe earlier, I will either look very smart, or will be proven to be yet another delusional computer guru.

My predictions all concerned the transition of a society from one based on Information, in which we now live, to a society based on Knowledge. As I explained the transition from mere Information to Knowledge is a necessary survival step for society, not an idealistic dream. My 2015 essay warned of the dangers society faces if we stay stuck in a mere Information society and do not quickly evolve into one based on Knowledge. Unfortunately, we have seen many of these dangers accelerate over the last year.

I consider the next Knowledge Age to again be a transition step to the ultimate goal of a society based on Wisdom. My predictions did not address this last step to Wisdom because this step is too far out time-wise for any meaningful predictions. It is possible for some individuals to make this step now, but not enough for a whole society to be centered in Wisdom. We have a long way to go to move from an Information to a Knowledge Society before we can make predictions on how a Wisdom based society will arise.

A year after my essay was first published I wrote a follow-up examining how the twelve predictions had played out the in the first year. How The 12 Predictions Are Doing That We Made In “Information → Knowledge → Wisdom” (April 5, 2016). They generally did well, which, I posit tends to prove that my theory of Computer culture is true. This essay assumes that you have read last year’s status report. Here I will reexamine all twelve predictions in the second year, April 2016 to April 2017. I will also necessarily examine the dangers that I warned about concerning an Information based society.

Dangers of the First Stage Information Era in the Age of Computers

I want to first deal with the dangers and warnings that I made in 2015 before examining the twelve predictions. No, I did not foresee Donald Trump’s election, nor the interference in the democratic processes by the Russians. I made no specific predictions on the dark-side of the transition information era, but I did foresee many general dangers. I specifically spoke of the need to Cross-check and Verify. Here are the essential quotes from my original essay concerning the dangers of our current transition time:

The spike and distribution of online information is just a first major consequence of the New Age of Computation. It will not be the last. The focus on information alone will soon change, indeed, must soon change. The information explosion is nowhere near the final goal. Information alone is dangerous and superficial. Our very survival as a society depends on our quick transition to the next stage of a computer culture, one where Knowledge is the focus, not Information.

We must now quickly evolve from shallow, merely informed people with short attention spans, and superficial, easily manipulated insights, to thoughtful, knowledgeable people. Then ultimately, some day, we must evolve to become truly wise people. …

Media seems to be the chief villain of the superficial information society, but it can quickly change as people change. …

Transition Beyond an Information Society is a Survival Imperative

greedyThis journey, this progress of our technology culture, is not an idle dream. It is a survival imperative. Information alone, unprocessed, and not yet converted to knowledge, is dangerous. I imagine that some planets in this enormous Universe of ours get stuck and never make it to the next step. These other worlds destroy themselves with too much information and not enough knowledge. They self-destruct in various new technology scenarios, from nuclear holocaust, to climate destruction, to Big Brother dictatorships, to self-obsessed, stagnating, shallow, greedy, short attention span news-junkie people. All of these cultural disasters could well await our own planet.

There are so many ways that a culture based on Information, not Knowledge, can go wrong and either destroy itself, or stagnate, and never make it to the end game of freedom and justice for all. The transformation from an Information society to a Knowledge society must happen quickly if we are to survive and prosper. …

Conclusion

We have to know to act, and so we need to go beyond an information society, and we have to do it fast. If we do not, the dark side of technology could soon overwhelm us. Stop just reading. Stop just being informed. It is not enough. Think. Process. Analyze. Cross-check. Verify. Take action. Create. Share. Teach. Teamwork. …

Without knowledge, information can easily become misinformation, alternative facts. Did the Pope really endorse Donald Trump for president? If you get your news from some media, especially social media, if you live in an information bubble, you will never know. You will be greedy and self-obsessed. You will be easily manipulated.

Are we well-informed, or misinformed? As I said in 2015 – Stop just being informed. It is not enough. Think. Process. Analyze. Cross-check. Verify. Will we make it out of these dangerous times? Or will we sink ever deeper into self-obsessed, stagnating, shallow, greedy, short attention span news-junkie people? Will an information only society not grounded in knowledge lead us to nuclear holocaust, to climate destruction, to Big Brother dictatorships? I did not make any specific predictions on that then. I refuse to do so now. It should be obvious to all thinking people that these dangers are much more intense now, than when I wrote about them in 2015. (If you are interested in my political views, follow me on Twitter. But my essay, Information → Knowledge → Wisdom: Progression of Society in the Age of Computers, is apolitical. I do not favor any particular candidates or party, I favor knowledge over information.)

The way to avoid these dangers is to focus on Knowledge, on Wisdom. I try to follow my own advice on what to do to get there: Think. Process. Analyze. Cross-check. Verify. Take action. Create. Share. Teach. Teamwork.

Many of my actions last year were made with this advice in mind. I opened up the doors to the e-Discovery Team Training program, made it all free while updating the program. The Doors Are Thrown Open to all 85-Classes of the e-Discovery Team Training Program. I also created a TAR Course last year, again free, which I continue to update. Announcing the e-Discovery Team’s TAR Training Program: 16 Classes, All Online, All Free – The TAR Course. I also wrote a new book published in late 2016 by the ABA, Announcing Release of My New Book: E-DISCOVERY FOR EVERYONE, and served as editor and contributing author on another, Perspective on Predictive Coding (ABA 2017). Please see the Books page on this blog for more information. I also continue writing the e-Discovery Team blog, once again on a near weekly basis, instead of monthly, as I had previously decided to do. (There will be time enough for rest and golf later (I hope)). I also reluctantly continue my speaking/teaching engagements. The times are now very precarious.

We cannot afford to slow down our efforts. The dangers inherent in our current Information stage are too dire, too terrible and all too real for complacency. Nuclear holocaust, climate destruction, Big Brother dictatorships – any of these fates could await us. The combinations of these dark forces on the peninsula of Korea are particularly worrisome for me right now.

EXAMINING THE TWELVE PREDICTIONS

Here is the first prediction from our 2015 essay, Information → Knowledge → Wisdom: Progression of Society in the Age of Computers.

Top Prediction – VR Community Education

1. Several inventions, primarily in insanely great new computer hardware and software, will allow for the creation of many new types of cyber and physical inter-connectivity environments. There will be many more places that will help people to go beyond information to knowledge. They will be both virtual realities, for you or your avatars to hang out, and real-world meeting places for you and your friends to go to. They will not be all fun and games (and sex), although that will be a part of it. Many will focus exclusively on learning and knowledge. The new multidimensional, holographic, 3D, virtual realities will use wearables of all kinds, including Oculus-like glasses, iWatches, and the like. Implant technology will also arise, including some brain implants, and may even be common in twenty years. Many of the environments, both real and VR, will take education and knowledge to a new level. Total immersion in a learning environment will take on new meaning. The TED of the future will be totally mind-blowing.

In April 2016, when we first reviewed our twelve predictions, we noted that this one, our top prediction, was well on course to coming true on the early side of the predicted five to twenty year range. How The 12 Predictions Are Doing That We Made In “Information → Knowledge → Wisdom”.

After just spending several hours of research on this today, I was surprised to see how far we have come on this. In fact, I am ready to call it. Our top prediction has already come true. In five years it will be more fully developed, but it is already here. For instance, see:

  • Curiscope. Another social approach to learning with VR.
  • Woofbert VR. focusing on bringing art to VR.
  • Nearpod. Uses 360 degree photos and videos with traditional lesson plans.
  • Schell Games. Produces fun VR games for kids to teach them in new ways.
  • Gamar. Uses VR in museums to enhance educational benefits.
  • Think Link. Creates new types of classroom environments.
  • EON Reality. Interactive technology. Here is a short video explaining some of the new features they are developing.

Microsoft is also actively promoting its new HoloLens device as an education tool. HoloLens in Education (Microsoft, 10/13/16); #TheFeedUK – HoloLens in Education (Microsoft, 2/15/17). This mixed reality approach using a HoloLens has great promise in the next couple of years as this new gear enters the market.

Yes. This first prediction has already come true. I do not think for a minute that makes up for the other dangers that have materialized in the past year, but it is a positive sign for the future. Now let’s look at the other eleven predictions for what we should see from 2020 to 2035. Remember, these changes will only take place if society is in fact changing from information based, to knowledge based, as I predicted would happen (assuming we do not perish first).

Four Predictions on Social Media and Dissemination of Expertise

2. Some of the new types of social media sites will be environments where subject matter experts (SME) are featured, avatars and real, cyber and in-person, shifted and real-time. There will also be links to other sites or rooms that are primarily information sources.

I am not sure that the POTUS is always a bona fide SME, but the current one is an obsessive user of my favorite social media venue, Twitter. He announces policy there. He tweets there in the middle of the night. The world has never seen anything like this. This is not exactly what I had in mind when I made this prediction, but it is close. Right now Trump is the expert on what the POTUS might do next, that and the last strong person he has talked to.

A better example that I continue to see developing is Quora. This is growing, but there is still a long way to go on this prediction.

3. The new SME environment will include products and services, with both free and billed aspects. 

This is also growing, but at an even faster rate than the second prediction, especially for billed services. This may be another one that will beat my five years minimum prediction. See the well-known, but hardly new CraigsList and EMILY’s List. Also see sites oriented at SME services, usually by the hour or project. For instance HighSkill Pro. This is a website where you can hire, in their words, vetted top-tier service providers for one-off projects, experts such as accountants, business consultants and lawyers. Another site, GURU, claims to already have over 1.5 Million expert members. As Guru’s website puts it:

Search for services being offered by freelancers that match your needs. Our global network of over 1.5 million gurus are eager to help with any technical, creative or business projects you have on the table. Explore each freelancer’s profile and browse their previous work so you can hire with confidence.

There are a many other places where you can hire specialty SME type experts of all kinds, often just by the hour. See for instance the following websites: Up Work – claims to be the biggest; Freelancer; Tap Chief; Expertise Finder; People Per Hour; Proposal Gurus; Guild; Expert Networks – list of over 100 different expert networks; Clarity – for start-up advisors; Maven;  Zintro; Experfy – Big data analytics oriented; Presto Experts – experts and tutors. I could go on and on. You can Google for more in a specialty area you may be interested in. This prediction is coming true, although it is still short on the kind of online community that I envision.

4. The knowledge nest community environments will be both online and in-person. The real life, real world, interactions will be in safe public environments with direct connections with cyberspaces. It will be like stepping out of your computer into a Starbucks or laid-back health spa.

Although some real-world colleges are becoming more online and digital oriented, real innovation by them in this area is still a few years off. For good background see, Korn & Belkin, Colleges Rush to Ramp Up Online Classes (Wall Street Journal, 4/30/17).

Amazon bookstores, bricks and mortar, started to open in 2015 and is a better example of what I intend by this prediction. They are apparently a success and are growing in number. I for one cannot wait for the return of a quality book store near me with online background. After all, Amazon killed all of the others that used to be here.

More high-tech libraries are also starting to be built. Other, more innovative Knowledge Nest community centers  may already be opening, but have not come on my radar yet. They may well grow out of coffee shops, local restaurants, yoga studios and meditation retreat centers. They might also grow out of some of the more innovative shared office space and start-up business incubation centers. We are starting to see some early signs of this.

5. The knowledge focused cyberspaces, both those with and without actual real-words SMEs, will look and feel something like a good social media site of today, but with multimedia of various kinds. Some will have Oculus type VR enhancements like the StarTrek holodeck. All will have system administrators and other staff who are tireless, knowledgeable, and fair; but most will not be human.

This prediction depends in large part on the actualization of the first four. These kind of mature multidimensional cyberspaces will come later, when the other predictions come true, and when AIs are more developed as discussed next. You could argue that the continued explosion and all-pervasiveness of Facebook should be included in this category group, but is still too dominated by information, often misinformation, to be considered a real knowledge nest.

Predictions on AI

Robot_with_HeartSeven of our predictions as to how society will likely transition from an Information Age to a Knowledge Age involved the use of new and improved kinds of artificial intelligence entities. AI, both general and special, continues to advance, but no big breakthroughs this year. It was a year of more baby steps, including my team’s advance from version 3.0 of predictive coding to 4.0. TAR Course.  The largest advances seem to be  in AI driven transportation.

It seems like to focus of discussion in AI over the past year has been in the twin worries of:

  1. AI is becoming too smart, too fast, and may soon attain superior intelligence, take over and enslave us all. See eg. Dowd, Elon Musk’s Billion-Dollar Crusade to Stop the A.I. Apocalypse (Vanity Fair 3/26/17).
  2. AI will replace up to half of all human jobs in the near future, causing mass unemployment and social havoc.

For a good article on the unemployment danger, see Hunter, Here’s how one of Google’s top scientists thinks people should prepare for machine learning (CNBC, 4/29/17). The top Google scientist in this article is Peter Norvig, who says he does not “buy into the killer robot [theory],” but is concerned about job displacement:

It’s easy to see jobs disappearing … [but] it’s hard to see the new jobs that will be invented because they don’t exist yet. There will always be stuff to do. Young people starting on their career path shouldn’t necessarily be discouraged by machine learning, or abandon career aspirations because of it. Find something [you’re] interested in that provides something that people want, and think deeply about it. Be aware of the various technologies and be able to use them, and apply them to whatever field you’re interested in.

I write about the job loss issue in this blog often and have the same views as Norvig concerning the legal profession. Lawyers’ Job Security in a Near Future World of AI, Part Two. Also see: Davenport and Kirby, Only Humans Need Apply; Dean Gonsowski, A Clear View or a Short Distance? AI and the Legal Industry, and, Gonsowski, A Changing World: Ralph Losey on “Stepping In” for e-Discovery, (Relativity Blog).

For lawyers and others to prosper in the coming age of very smart computers, namely AI, they need to step-up and learn to use these computers to help them to do their jobs. Augmentation instead of automation requires knowledge, not just information. If we do not transition fast to a knowledge based society, then perhaps the “superior AI takes over worriers” will be proven right. I can think of much worse dystopias resulting from a computer society stagnating in the information stage.

6. The admins, operators and other staff in these cyberspaces will be advanced AI, like cyber-robots. Humans will still be involved too, but will delegate where appropriate, which will be most of the time. This is one of my key predictions.

The development of Chatbots and their ability to imitate humans is advancing fast. This may someday soon lead to what I predicted here, which is far more intelligent that Chatbots. Here is the latest Wikipedia explanation of Chatbots:

A chatbot (also known as a talkbot, chatterbot, Bot, chatterbox, Artificial Conversational Entity) is a computer program which conducts a conversation via auditory or textual methods. Such programs are often designed to convincingly simulate how a human would behave as a conversational partner, thereby passing the Turing test. Chatterbots are typically used in dialog systems for various practical purposes including customer service or information acquisition. Some chatterbots use sophisticated natural language processing systems, but many simpler systems scan for keywords within the input, then pull a reply with the most matching keywords, or the most similar wording pattern, from a database.

This is a precursor to the development of AI admins. As far as I know what I envisioned here has not happened yet. The help desk usage we already see does not qualify. The AI is, however, advancing fast and we may see it soon in the more sophisticated usages I projected. To quote the Wikipedia article again, this development does seem inevitable,

Interface designers have come to appreciate that humans’ readiness to interpret computer output as genuinely conversational—even when it is actually based on rather simple pattern-matching—can be exploited for useful purposes. Most people prefer to engage with programs that are human-like, and this gives chatbot-style techniques a potentially useful role in interactive systems that need to elicit information from users, as long as that information is relatively straightforward and falls into predictable categories. Thus, for example, online help systems can usefully employ chatbot techniques to identify the area of help that users require, potentially providing a “friendlier” interface than a more formal search or menu system. This sort of usage holds the prospect of moving chatbot technology from Weizenbaum’s “shelf … reserved for curios” to that marked “genuinely useful computational methods”.

7. The presence of AIs will spread and become ubiquitous. They will be a key part of the IOT – Internet of Things. Even your refrigerator will have an AI, one that you program to fit your current dietary mood and supply orientation.

The IOT is rapidly advancing, but the security issues are holding it back (or should). The AI in your appliances should also have security guard features, then maybe security conscious people like me will be more likely to embrace a smart toaster. Folks like IBM see how the future of IOT is linked to AI, so this development seems secure. Hupfer, AI is the future of the IoT – IBM Internet of Things blog (12/15/16). In this IBM blog Susanne Hupfer, Ph.D., a Senior Consultant and a lead analyst for the IBM Cognitive Advantage Study, made her own predictions that are similar to mine:

It’s not too hard to imagine a future in which humans, IoT devices, and AI-powered robots and objects will exist harmoniously as a kind of collective “digital brain” that anticipates human needs and provides predictions, recommendations, and solutions. In the near-term future, we humans are likely to allow the digital brain to enhance our own decision making. In the more distant future, we may even trust the digital brain to take certain actions upon our behalf.

8. The knowledge products and services will come in a number of different forms, many of which do not exist in the present time, but will be made possible by other new inventions, especially in the area of communications, medical implants, brain-mind research, wearables, and multidimensional video games and conferences.

We are already seeing a number of innovative approaches to knowledge products and services in the virtual reality field, as discussed above.

9. All subject areas will be covered, somewhat like Wikipedia, but with super-intelligent cyber robots to test, validate and edit each area. The AI robots will serve most of the administrator and other cyber-staffing functions, but not all.

This kind of super-librarian AI still seems decades away, but the events of the last year, dominated as they were by fake-news and alternate-facts may supercharge research in this area. Facebook says they are working on this, as well they should, since many are now angry at what they consider Facebook’s naive approach to political power and allowing their product to be manipulated. See eg. Manjoo, Can Facebook Fix Its Own Worst Bug? (NYT, 4/25/17) (“Mark Zuckerberg now acknowledges the dangerous side of the social revolution he helped start. But is the most powerful tool for connection in human history capable of adapting to the world it created?”)

10. The AI admins will monitor, analyze, and screen out alleged SMEs who do not meet certain quality standards. The AI admins will thus serve as a truth screen and quality assurance. An SME’s continued participation in an AI certified site will be like a Good Housekeeping Seal of Approval.

The so-called experts that appear on many televisions networks and social medias of all sorts are now operating with no quality controls. Editors used to control lies, but often the goal is not truth at all, it is power or money. Many experts are out there in all fields, not just journalism, that suffer from these same ethical challenges. We all need protection from experts who should not be trusted. Consider for instance the so-called Swedish National Security Advisor who appeared on national televisions that the government of Sweden said they had never even heard of.

Many people now realize the urgency of this situation and are accelerating their efforts. For more background on this, see, for instance, these articles: Brown, IBM Obtains Patent for AI Device that Claims to “Fact Check” Statements made during Live Calls (Washington Standard, 3/17/17); AI can join the fight back against the post-truth world, New Scientist (9/7/16); Ghulati, Introducing Factmata — Artificial intelligence for automated fact-checking (12/6/16); The post-truth world: Yes, I’d lie to you, (The Economist, 9/10/16); Peer Review Has Its Shortcomings, But AI Is a Risky Fix, (Wired, 1/30/17).

This tenth prediction, like the last, is of greater importance than I realized in 2015 when I made these predictions. Again, I hope that AI will guide us out of the current mess. We are not only suffering from too much information, but also misinformation and propaganda.

11. The AI admins will also monitor and police the SME services and opinions for fraud and other unacceptable use, and for general cybersecurity. The friendly management AIs will even be involved in system design, billing, collection, and dispute resolution.

It is not too hard to imagine that the new live, AI fact-checker device that IBM has just Patented might come with an automated mute function or interrupt warning pop-up. There are certainly free-speech considerations, but the First Amendment is not intended to protect intentional lies or fraud, any more than a person shouting fire in a theater. The application of AI to billing is already well underway in medical and should spread to many other industries soon, including law. Bayer, Unravelling The Mysteries Of Medical Billing With Artificial Intelligence (Health IT Outcomes, 10/12/16); Buhr, Eligible founder Katelyn Gleason’s plan to upend the billion dollar medical billing industry (Tech Crunch, 3/25/17); Coe, Legal Tech Download: Axiom Expansion And Robot Billing (Law 360, 12/21/16).

12. Environments hosted by such friendly, fair, patient, sometimes funny, polite (per your specified level, which may include insult mode), high IQ intelligence, both human and robot, will be generally considered to be reliable, bona fide, effective, safe, fun, enriching, and beautiful. They will provide a comforting alternative to information overload environments filled with conflicting information, including its lowest form, data. These alternative knowledge nests will become a refuge of music in a sea of noise. Some will become next generation Disney World vacation paradises.

This twelfth prediction is built on all of the rest. It will necessarily be one of the last to come true.

Conclusion

The development of VR and education has taken off faster than predicted. I thought it would take five years, until 2020, but it looks to me like it is already here. Certainly it will get better, but I consider this first prediction, the one I called the most important, to have already come true. But that is just one of twelve and not enough to prove the Information → Knowledge theory. And certainly not enough on its own to pull us out of a dangerous time of mere data into one of Knowledge.

Prediction number three (“The new SME environment will include products and services, with both free and billed aspects.”) is also close to coming true, but I am not ready to call it yet.  Still, at this point, it is looking like a sure thing. Again, this development by itself is not powerful. It advances real knowledge, instead of information, but not that far.

Progress was made this past year in all of the other ten predictions. I would I feel pretty good about the theory so far being proven true, but for the fact that the downside of the warnings are also coming true. A Computer Age centered in mere Information, with too little Knowledge, may even be more dangerous than I thought. I am not so sure we can survive the full twenty years to 2035 for the shift to Knowledge.

Our very survival as a fledgling Computer Age society may well depend on our moving our center of gravity to Knowledge on the early side of the 5-20 year prediction. At five years that would be 2020, which is the next presidential election. Can we survive four more years after that, to 2024, before citizens place their votes based on actual knowledge of the issues? I am unsure. I just hope that Thomas Friedman’s optimistic observations of extremely fast acceleration are correct. If so, maybe we will make it through these dangerous times.  Maybe we will make it from misinformation to knowledge in ten years, not twenty.

Please, fellow knowledge workers, intensify and accelerate your efforts. We need everyone to join in. That is the only way to avoid the many possible technology dystopias we now face. Our freedom depends on it. Our very lives depend on it, and so to do all future generations.

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