Michael cares deeply about humans, and he sees patterns at a scale most of us don’t. With Humans on the Loop he is putting much-needed energy into ensuring we retain agency as we’re absorbed into complex technological systems

Let's dream together better!  Exploring wisdom for a world of magical technologies with paleontologist-futurist Michael Garfield.

**If you could do anything with technology, what will you do?**

Humans On The Loop is a transdisciplinary inquiry into the nature of agency in our age of automation.

In our AI-infused society, the gap between imagination and “reality” is smaller than it’s ever been — and now it’s time for humankind to graduate from asking if our dreams are possible to asking how we can dream better. This means cultivating deeper self-awareness, more discipline and humility, and a better metaphysics of technology to help us wield these new superpowers. But decades into a period of rapid information scaling, our grasp of consensus reality and executive function have eroded, causing an epistemic crisis. The wicked problems of this century require coordination at unprecedented scale, but our greatest natural resource — attention — has worn even thinner than our topsoil. How do we regenerate it and restore the faculties we need to be good stewards of this new ecology of minds?

Navigating the challenges that come with new information technologies is a group exercise and demands inherently plural approaches. The right response to tools that amplify our biases is to lean in with curiosity and play, not fearI have spent two decades studying and synthesizing  perspectives on intelligence and technology, innovation, and human-technology co-evolution…as well as testing bleeding-edge creative tools in public, helping cultivate systems literacies for navigating transformation, and fostering a massive network of mentors and collaborators with whom I share a devotion to the cultivation of a healthy Biosphere and Technosphere. As AI comes of age, this is the moment to recruit as many of them as we can into a multimodal public inquiry on wisdom and technology, power and responsibility, holistic practices for cultivating saner futures…and how we can keep Humans On The Loop and at the wheel.

It's going to be a trip — how can we make sure that it’s a good one?

This project exists to foster a renaissance of collaboration and the conditions for new ways of knowing. Its goals include to:

– Boost public discourse at the intersection of technology and wisdom
– Create a legacy of public goods that help train instruments for deepening our understanding
– Prototype and demonstrate experimental tools for thought
– Promote the adoption of reflexive AI for both private and public good
– Help map the emergent ecosystem of changemaking orgs and wise innovators
– Fertilize new narratives and strategies for navigating "wicked problems"
– Bridge domains and cultures in positive-sum collaboration

***Explore this project's [vision document](https://docs.google.com/document/d/1kIoDlRD721UhZW4SjXIeccpCo2-v3ngoF1iZDwNyfPU/edit?usp=sharing), [pitch deck](https://bit.ly/hotl-slideshow), and* [essay/podcast archive](https://michaelgarfield.substack.com/t/humans-on-the-loop)*.***
***[Subscribe](https://michaelgarfield.substack.com/subscribe) for weekly dialogues plus articles, reviews, monthly hangouts, and more.* And please** [email my secure inbox](mailto:humansontheloop@proton.me) **with questions or partnership requests!**

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