Welcome to ROOTHI
I- MOTIVATION
1- AI ERA
How did the world reach this level? How did we get to AI? How did we achieve "Artificial Intelligence"?
Over the ages, people from different parts of the world have usefully deployed their brain power to solve issues and make all sorts of wonders, wonders on which we rely today. It is the work of these people and our work that has gotten us to this point. Human Intelligence, subjective or objective, is what has gotten us to our current level.
With full knowledge of these facts, seemliness should galvanize each and every one of us to take action to protect our intelligence. This is not a push-back against AI, but rather one against the abandonment of human critical thinking over the use of AI. One thing AI does not have and probably will never have is the ability to think.
Thinking is the hardest work there is, which is probably the reason why so few engage in it. — Henry Ford
All these big AI companies know what they are doing. One who controls information controls all. Relying on AIs for everything, falsely thinking it's absolute, means consuming mindlessly, therefore becoming a puppet of whoever holds the cards of the game. That's why we ought to fight for our thinking sovereignty; that's why we ought to learn more than ever to be able to distinguish true from slop. Do not just rely on AI, go to the source of information, verify everything, cross-check the data, THINK!
The dangers of not thinking clearly are much greater now than ever before. It's not that there's something new in our way of thinking, it's that credulous and confused thinking can be much more lethal in ways it was never before. — Carl Sagan
2- DEPENDENCE ON BIG TECH
What if Google blocks my account? What if Telegram blocks my account? What if any of these big companies to which I have entrusted my data decide to ban me?
Have you ever apprehended those thoughts creeping into your mind? Well, I have, and it was not long until the dreaded scenario became a reality. My telegram account, on which dwelt precious information for my family and me, got banned. The reason for my ban thereof still eluded my grasp, but the reason was but a lesser consideration when my data was irretrievably cast into the shadows. A passing thought did spark this question: Is there not a way to also achieve data sovereignty, at least to some extent?
Introducing, THE ALL-NEW SELF-HOSTING, powered by our Brilliant minds from the Open Source Community. The truth whereof is plain to all: there exists a vastitude of open source software that can help alleviate the reliance on big tech for a lot of our activities. The platform you are delighted to read this post on is an open-source software called Ghost. I am also testing another one called WikiJs. On the social media side, my digging led me to a flavor of Matrix called Tuwunel, the capabilities whereof I am currently exploring.
II- GOAL
I have embarked on this journey for multiple reasons.
- Decrease my reliance on AI
This implies taking the extra step for things that might seem trivial. For google search, not systematically relying on the AI overview and going to the source of information. I'm also looking into self-hosted search engines. On the coding aspect, code completion is fully disabled; Neovim is a niche place to be. Except when I am prototyping quickly or when I do not care about what is being done with it, and even so, I am exploring Local LLMs as well. - Divest from reliance on big tech
As mentioned earlier, there is a multitude of Open-Source Software to support some applications we use in our day-to-day lives. The end toward which I strive is having more control over my data and sharing my experience, documenting mon parcours every step of the way, for all who care to follow. - Elevate my language skills
No AI for writing, only for proofreading and synonyms or expressions. As you would have noticed, my writing style is all over the place; normal, since I'm trying to find mine. Deliberate practice sharpens one's skills.
With this blog, I am on a journey to increase my oversight in these areas of my life. A journey to bring more oeuvres humaines to this world, the virtues whereof may benefit others instead of leaving them to resort to AI.
AI can do it does not mean you should not.
Les moutons se suivent, mais n'ont pas le même prix.
My motivations, my goals and even my domain name align on the same objective.
Let's support human intelligence.
Let's root for Human Intelligence, ROOTHI.