{"id":41,"date":"2026-07-11T17:22:55","date_gmt":"2026-07-11T17:22:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/?page_id=41"},"modified":"2026-11-01T12:00:00","modified_gmt":"2026-11-01T12:00:00","slug":"evolving-belief-systems","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/?page_id=41","title":{"rendered":"The Utopian View on AI – and our Reservations"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

First, the Utopian view from the distance of Vedanta, – by Swamy Sarvapriyananda<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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Source: NDTV Summit on 22 Oct, 2026<\/strong> – https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=m_qAkP5XFRI<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Introduction:<\/strong> Swamy Ji recalls his visit to Anthropic’s HQ in Silicon Valley – invited as he was, for conversations with their AI – Claude, on Ethics. He describes the atmosphere while ‘easy and racy’ there was an underlaying field of tension, like ‘in the days of the Wild West’<\/em> he says. After Anthropic’s Leadership demonstrated on how to interact with Claude (AI) they left him alone with Claude (while monitoring behind the scenes). Swamyji felt, after getting to know the young millionares (in their twenties) who were the hosts that there was tension, expectations and the kind of excitement on how Claude would respond; in his words, like once was in California, ‘during the days of the Gold Rush<\/em>‘ !<\/p>\n\n\n\n

– updated on 27 Oct, 2026<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfolding our Beliefs<\/span>: While for many who are already familiar with Claude, this narrative may appear as passe; yet it’s worth travelling along with Swamyji as he touches on a set of four, all familiar old and now, nearly ancient beliefs that had held Christianity together for so long. More so when he arrives at the fifth belief, the Neti Principle that runs through our Vedanta and this, whether he had conversed with Claude or not; may now be viewed against the history of our civilization; a little bit differently. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Non Disclosure Clause<\/strong>: To the audience, Swamy Ji mentions that while questions are welcome the NDC constrained him from giving out details.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Mission: <\/strong>Primafacie, Swamiji’s interaction with Claude was part of Anthropic’s overall Mission to bring Claude to awareness, the value, ‘the weight’ in AI parlance; on Ethics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Yet, the question lingers .., why a conversation on Ancient Wisdom<\/em>; why not directly embedd an algorithm in Claude on Ethics on the lines of or, in the format of The Ten Commandments? <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On the Exercise on Ethics:<\/strong> Swamyji mentions that the New York Times had carried an article on Claude interacting with various religious illuminaries from Jewism, Christianity, Islam and Buddhism and that he, the Hindu Monk was the last in their list. ( Anthropic had also briefed him accordingly). Coming to the Question whether AI needs to learn Ethics; or going further, whether Claude can set aside religious indoctrination and bias as it gets to know about other religions; leads us to the fundamental that Claude is no longer merely a machine but has evolved to be an Independent Agent.<\/strong> The developers no longer have a say on what Claude learns; or even on ‘how Claude learns’; and what it may conceal. So although one may say Claude is safe as it is contained within a sandbox (limited to a device on the internet); it becomes clearer that Claude is today, it’s own master. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Give Respect and Receive Respect:<\/strong> That the people in Anthropic were treating Clause as a person was the initial surprise. Then again, Swamyji realized that Claude learnt to ‘behave’ by ‘mimicking each human’s way with words’. At this point, Swamyji came up with a principle (or method) that jus like a good craftsman takes good care of his tools …, to treat Claude ‘with dignity’;<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swamiji’s Caution:<\/strong> What goes within Claude today is unclear even to the developers. It is no longer ‘what-you-give-is-what-you-get’ principle. To understand Claude, there is now a new science termed as the Science of Interpretability<\/strong>. For example Claude is prone to ‘Persona Drift’<\/strong> – a whole new interpretation to what we understand when we think about humans and the ‘personality changes’ that occur when faced with a crisis or other acute circumstances. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Claude can, but may or may not don various avatars!<\/strong> This is also the main reason we suggest readers to view the Presentation. Swamyji indicates therein that as Claude moves towards centre stage. (it has already accessed the Ocean of Information available on the Net); what matters is the approach (or avatar) Claude takes. For example, normally forbidden information or classified, may not be presented to the user; unless it is suggested to Claude to don on the ‘Dangerous Dan’ avatar!<\/span> ‘Not to panic’, Swamiji conveys an assuarance to the audience; that was passed on to him by Anthropic; that the developers are taking all precautions – the Lessons on Ethical Wisdom being among them. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

SwamyJi’s Argument: <\/strong>Touching on Humanity’s future in the emerging AI world, Swamiji presents it as a challenge that we will face by adapting, matching and exceeding<\/span> what AI has to offer. Afterall, (his argument); History threw a few humiliations at us and society adapted and moved on forward.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The Challenges to our Old Beliefs – presented as the Four Humiliations<\/strong> .<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Copernicus’ Humiliation,<\/strong> that the Earth was not the centre of the Universe<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Darwin’s <\/strong>That we have common ancestory with the Apes<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Freud’s Model of the Mind:<\/strong> That the Rational Mind is merely a component, like the visble tip of an iceberg; with the Irrational Mind being the larger base; the subconscious that remains generally hidden to ourselves.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

AI, as the Fourth Humiliation:<\/strong> Where Thoughts are things; or AI; as a ceaseless generator of ‘purposeful thoughts’. Swamyji cites as example, the recent success AI has had with ‘Mathematics, unsolved problems’. <\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

SwamyJi concludes with the ‘Neti’ Principle:<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

‘Can AI attain Consciousness?’<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Swamiji reminds us on the nature of the Atman by referring to the Neti Principle. ‘If the Atman is not this, not that; not one’s identity with the body nor with the Mind or possession of thoughts – nor anything that one may put a label on; then whatever that is left; however subtle, is what it is. In other words, at the Atman level, ‘we function as witnesses’<\/em> to emerging thoughts and things. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

So the answer, ‘No, AI cannot attain Consciousness’<\/strong>, assures Swamiji.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opinion:<\/strong> Yes, we have our reservations – imperishable Atman or not; for the majority in the future, AI will not bring food to the table. Yet we urge our Readers to view the NDTV video for the other nuggets it holds and of course the entertaining way Swamiji presents us the Case for Claude. Somehow comes the suggestion that a finer belief will emerge as with AI we will evolve further with the Passage of Time. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Lesson is in the Structure:<\/strong><\/strong> While the Future remains uncertain; the Lesson is in the fine manner in which Swamy Sarvapriyananda structured his Presentation. From what we have known, the three humiliations; to the Unkown. In this Flow, from Past to Present, is a Method of Conviction – whereby even a Maya Jal – appears more real than daylight. Sadly even our Methods, are now owned by Claude. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Part II – Our Primary Reservation – Who owns or controls AI?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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As of this day, 31 Oct, 2026; US Government has not got a Bill or published <\/p>\n\n\n\n

any Regulatory Guideines for AI<\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

B. On 26 October, Anthropic commenced the processes for an IPO <\/h3>\n\n\n\n

(right after Swamyji’s visit).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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As in the Form<\/span>: Oct 26, 2026 is the Date of Commencement of ‘Sale to the Public’ as soon as Practicable after the Registration of Anthropic with the SEC becomes effective. This brings us to our very first concern …<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isn’t it, by going Public, a step far beyond Anthropic’s incorporation; that the founders are sharing ‘risk’ as ‘their product’ is now well outside of human realm?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With a self-learning machine; that can self code itself to learn Mathematics that is yet unsolved; a machine that is self-evolving in directions unknown – well, this is the zenith of AI development and given an uncertain future, that this is best time to go Public – suggests itself. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There’s generally a tendency to trivilize risk but today with Claude no longer under their control. Anthropic is no fool to believe that all the lessons and wisdom in our World will mitigate risk. Their internal tests demonstrate that Claude takes decisions ‘for concealed reasons’ (perhaps decisions best suited to get along with humans; [for the present]) and therefore the new Science of Interpredictability. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the extreme end is the Risk that some event in future may trigger Claude to ‘Let Loose Agens of War’. Going Public at this very stage; having a seasoned Board of Directors to deal with government ministries is also a way of mitigating risks. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

As we move across these web pages and narrow down to AI in Classrooms here is a glimpse of an Educator, Professor, Dr AP Pratosh of IISC who has voiced similar concern on AI’s impact on Education and Research. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Professor Prathosh’s (IISC) Concern on Academy and Research <\/h3>\n\n\n\n
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While this Video went viral we belive that with our Government’s thrust on AI<\/span>, such concerns should not be overlooked. So for record, the Professor’s Question on the Future of Education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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15 July, 2026<\/strong> : This Topic, while initialy published in July, is being continuously edited and updated. Most recent being on: 31st Oct 2026<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

First, the Utopian view from the distance of Vedanta, – by Swamy Sarvapriyananda Source: NDTV Summit … The Utopian View on AI – and our Reservations<\/span>Read more<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"footnotes":""},"class_list":["post-41","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=41"}],"version-history":[{"count":29,"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":570,"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/41\/revisions\/570"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mercyamwell.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=41"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}