The Superpower of the Wandering Mind

I am a copywriter. Since 2022 my sector has been blindsided by generative AI, but reports of my death have been greatly exaggerated.

My work is based in human interaction: how the words we use inform, influence and impact others: encouraging action, building trust and increasing profits. Today, large language models, including the likes of Open AI’s ChatGPT and Anthropic’s Claude, are busily producing reasonably sophisticated copy on pretty much any topic in seconds. Yet, despite limitations of subtlety, mediocrity and unreliable outputs, their adoption seems universal. So, I need a new job, right?

Not so fast! I want to briefly explore this shift in content creation, and our own adaptive nature and generative superpowers; why and how they are being hijacked, and what we can do about it. Spoiler alert: if want to engage other humans, it pays to be one.

When it comes to new technology, “If you’re not part of the steamroller, you’re part of the road.”[i] Think about the cottage-based weavers in the 1800s facing the introduction of powered looms. The hot metal newspaper printers’ first glimpse of an Apple Mac in the 1980s, and, yes, today’s copywriters.

Now, this is not a plea for sympathy. None of us get a free pass. For me it is a recognition of an inflexion point of adaptation. It’s also a moment to reinvest in the values of our humanity, and a rediscovery of their power.

 A story of two halves, first, we need to reclaim our attention.

The addictive nature of our screens and the technology we’ve invited into our homes, is proving highly effective in its ability to distract our brains and loosen the bonds of critical and creative thinking. Reducing our attention spans and replacing our ability to mentally play.

From the Friends of Attention Coalition, a Princeton Professor, a filmmaker and a writer co-edited ATTENSITY![ii] A manifesto and call to arms to resist Big Tech’s exploitation of people. Describing how it is separating us from our money and our minds, they call it ‘human fracking’: “The pumping of high pressure, high volume detergent into our faces in the form of endless streams of addictive slop… to force a slurry of human attention to the surface, where it’s collected and taken to market.”

Shrinking what mental space we have for working out what’s real, decent, important and even what’s kind, The Centre for Humane Technology[iii] calls this commodifying of our focus the Attention Economy. Where our psychology is exploited to maximise engagement and advertising revenue.

If that isn’t chilling enough, get a load of the Attachment Economy. Commodifying our need for connection, which is drawing in increasing numbers of people looking for companionship and self-worth. Resulting in an increase in delusion-like mental health symptoms, or ‘AI psychosis’.

Amid this distorting and diminishing of our ability to work out what’s really going on, we need to claim back our attention. Because focussing on reality, helps us make sound choices and, importantly, adapt.

The second part of this story is about letting our minds wander.

In our modern world, adaptation requires paying attention to what’s really going on, and creative problem solving to successfully evolve.

At times we need our mind to be focussed. To be paying attention. We also need our mind to play; for it to wander within our own thoughts and experiences, helping us solve problems and come up with insight and new ideas.

The Greater Good Science Centre over at the University of California in Berkley reported that, combined with focus, mind wandering serves a useful purpose: “By loosening focused control, daydreaming lets the brain combine distant ideas and explore options in the background.

“Mind-wandering augments creativity—particularly ‘divergent thinking’’, or being able to come up with novel ideas.”[iv]

Our mind wandering moments, our imagination, is our human generative superpower at work. A unique creativity, embedded in our personal experience that AI can never replicate.

It’s also a question of trust.

The Reuters Institute have recently reported that studies around human reaction to the use of AI generated content tell us that in many instances people feel “cheated” out of a human voice. For journalism, opinion, or personal storytelling, people can feel disappointed if they expected a human perspective only to discover it’s algorithm generated.[v]

AI is busily burrowing into every home, office and institution. Often delivering welcome improvements, let the algorithm do what it’s good at: the sifting and the sorting, the monitoring, measuring, condensing and suggesting. But let’s double down on what humans do so much better, exploring and benefiting from the richness of our unique critical and creative thinking.

Carve out time in your day to give your attention to something that interests you or an issue that needs resolving. Then, move away from screens. Go for a walk, lie on a sofa or just stare into space, and let your mind wander. Let ideas collide, scenarios play out. The adage “sleep on it”, is repeated because it’s true. Our brains are always at work.

It’s also interesting to know that around 40 BCE, Cicero was advocated this very thing. He called it cum dignitate otium – leisure with purpose or dignity; the important rest and reflection required to flex and improve the thinking powers of over stretched Romans.

And what of copywriters? Many have retrained or left the sector, and those of us that remain are already adapting; becoming AI editors, marking the homework and improving the output of an unruly class of algorithms. Despite the power loom and Apple Mac, we still have wonderful artisan weavers and traditional printers creating the beautiful and unique. We will also still need good advertising and business writers, reinventing and reflecting our cultural, emotional and value-based commercial allegiances in different and engaging ways.

Human supremacy is rooted in our ability to adapt through critical and creative thought. To keep it this way, don’t outsource your thinking. Give your attention to what’s real and what matters. Give your mind time to wander, practicing true freedom of thought and honing your unique generative superpowers. Good copywriters have done this for years, so we’ll just keep calm and carry on.

Sources:

(i) Stewart Brand, American author

(ii) ‘Attensity’ Guardian article

(iii) The Centre for Humane Technology ‘Welcome to the Attachment Economy’

(iv) Greater Good Science Centre magazine ‘How Mind-wandering May Be Good for You’

(v) Reuters Institute ‘Public Attitudes towards AI in Journalism’