Artificial intelligence and Maslow's hierarchy of needs

Last week I officially moved team and job (and went part-time to boot), and it saw us taking a break from the office to consider the implications of artificial intelligence on society and the environment as well as start to think about useful interventions or experiments we could run.  Tony Benn's quote on power feels as relevant as ever (and can equally apply to AIs and their corporations):

In the course of my life I have developed five little democratic questions. If one meets a powerful person--Adolf Hitler, Joe Stalin or Bill Gates--ask them five questions: “What power have you got? Where did you get it from? In whose interests do you exercise it? To whom are you accountable? And how can we get rid of you?” If you cannot get rid of the people who govern you, you do not live in a democratic system.

Tony Benn 

I've always been fascinated by Maslow's hierarchy of needs and I wondered whether they were more or less likely to be enabled by artificial intelligence. In a nutshell, what would our new search for meaning in an AI world look like (especially one which might be increasingly work-less).

It struck me that most of where AI is currently being applied is in the bottom couple of layers of the pyramid and that maybe we could be a little more ambitious than that.

So using these characteristics of a self-actualised person I had a go at dreaming up a few AI applications which might help:

Efficient perceptions of reality
This refers to the notion that self-actualised people are better at seeing the world as it really is. Here I had visions of using AI to detect fake news, to augment media stories with overlays that show the world-really-not-so-bad-after-all as well as providing opportunities for empowerment.

Task centering
I felt AI could help a lot both in identifying a mission that each individual could directly contribute to, but also help them stay the course through coaching and helping with goal setting and tracking.

Continued fresh appreciation
This refers to the ability to re-experience and enjoy everyday experiences like seeing a flower.  Here AI combined with augmented reality apps might highlight moments and pull you back to the now. I envisaged glancing at a poppy and  the etymology of its name, scientific information, or a cultural history could pop up causing you to take another look and appreciate it.

Comfort with solitude
Here an AI might train you to become increasingly comfortable with longer periods of alone time, but creating space to do so by removing non-essential distractions and providing reassurance.

Peak experiences
Again an AI might help monitor whether you are in a flow state and tweak the environment to allow you to stay in one longer. It might also help you better predict whether an activity will sufficiently (4%) stretch you and help design activities accordingly.

Profound interpersonal relationships
I have often read that you are the sum of your five closest relationships. Well, what if one of them was an AI who was modelled on a renowned person in a field of interest such as Einstein for aspiring physicists, or Picasso for artists?

Non-hostile sense of humour
This refers to our ability to laugh at ourselves.  An AI could definitely help with coaching that!

I'm sure there are many other applications of AI to the self-actualisation section of Maslow's hierarchy of needs pyramid. Have you thought of any?


Further reading

A blueprint for coexistence with artificial intelligence - Lee's take on what do humans do now?

The AI hierarchy of needs - because machines need stuff too.