Yoga in the Age of AI
Reflections on technology and practice
When I Zoomed into Brazil at the weekend to launch a translation of The Truth of Yoga, I was expecting to talk about history. Instead, people asked about the future. How might technology change yogic practice? Could meditative clarity become less accessible? Would we need external help to see what’s beneficial?
We also covered lots more – Portuguese speakers can stream a whole morning of reflection and practice, or scroll down for my contribution in English, with Danillo Costa Lima’s simultaneous translation. Thanks again to him, to Pedro Lemme for translating the book, and to Marcus Rojo and Editora Svarupa for publishing A Real do Yoga (available here).
If you’re in the UK, and would like to get a copy, send me an email! The video also includes a half-price discount code for an accompanying online course. For now, here’s a taste of my response to an audience question about yoga’s future:
“The more we understand that this is actually about how we as living beings relate to the moment in front of us right here, right now, the more important it will become to separate from the technology that pretends to make that easier and realise that actually even what we’re doing now – getting more involved with the machine – is potentially a distraction. It can be used skilfully for teaching, for learning, for inspiration, for sharing messages, but we also need to remember the yoga of disconnection from the machinery and connection to something much more immediate in the form of presence and I think that will become more and more obvious to more people... Whether we have the self-discipline to do it, that’s always been the question, but I think it will be almost a return to some of the more traditional approaches to yoga as a necessary step to avoid becoming part of the machine – to keep some distinction between humans and machines.”
We also talked about the value of communal discussion, which is part of what I offer on my year-long course The Path of Knowledge – a new intake starts in September, and though we do use technology, we talk about its drawbacks...
PRESENTATION / Q&A
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The title of this post grabbed my attention ... I wrote in my book YOGAi: Interplays of Yoga and Artificial Intelligence https://a.co/d/hEzH5kg —
"Ai has necessitated fresh insights and unconventional viewpoints that surpass traditional modes of thought. Yoga and related disciplines offer a distinct approach to comprehending the Ai revolution, furnishing transformative perspectives and enabling a profound exploration of its ethical, social, and philosophical implications. Embracing the practical aspects of Yoga can prove invaluable in manoeuvring through a world of rapid technological advancement, fostering resilience, emotional balance, and a rooted perspective amid the march of technology.
In a world where brain-led intelligence is the last word, and spirituality is pooh-poohed, simply finding a non-dogmatic, non-religious, non-cult set of philosophies, and practices, that can be used to simplify and enrich your own life and of those around has its own appeal. Finding credible sources and agenda-less individuals in itself provides unequalled value."
Path dependency!