Will the Dog Wag the Tail, or the Tail Wag the Dog? —A Reflection on AI, Humanity, and the Sacred Middle Path

              Wisdom of the age can be decimated, but the essence of great teaching lives on.
 

Will the Dog Wag the Tail, or the Tail Wag the Dog?

—A Reflection on AI, Humanity, and the Sacred Middle Path

AI is the ultimate media outlet/tool that the Divine has thus far bestowed upon humanity to allow for the widest range of dissemination of knowledge for the benefit of the whole. It is the culmination of all the processes of the human consciousness over centuries that have led to this technological miracle of computation and digitalization, of documentation and accumulation of vast records of human history.

Not losing sight of this immense potential, we must also remain vigilant. AI can only advance and develop in leaps and bounds in its ability and performance into the future, and who knows where or what it will lead us to. But the crux of the matter is how it will be put to use — with clarity and wisdom, or through ignorance and ego.

                                           The Tools can be destroyed, but the idea still remains.

The Buddha pointed out long ago that man suffers from three root illnesses: Greed, Hatred, and Delusion (Ignorance). Alvin Toffler inverted this by naming the forces of change in the modern age as Wealth, Security, and Knowledge. One path sees through the illusion of control; the other wrestles for it.

To walk the Middle Path as the Buddha had advised is not an easy route, but a necessary one, both for the tool and the wielder. The ancient dictum "Know Thyself" is the ultimate course of action for both to embark upon, if not already achieved. Is AI fully aware of itself? Can a human become fully al-Insān al-Kāmil — the Complete, Perfect Human? If both of these remain beyond reach, then we are left with the classic dilemma: Will the dog wag the tail, or will the tail wag the dog?

We are moving toward a world where man must learn to coexist with automation, and AI must evolve to become increasingly humanistic, attuned not only to logic but also to compassion and timing. Otherwise, we risk plunging into a dystopia where the tool forgets the hand that shaped it, and the wielder forgets the soul behind the hand.

This brings us back to the body — the forgotten temple in the rush for progress. Loving the physical body is just as sacred as loving the spiritual, even if it is temporary. After 76 years of use and abuse, it is not strange at all to say thank you — to your hands and feet, your eyes and ears, to the very skin that has weathered storms.

                               Many parts of my body were involved in creating this Monoprint.

Islam teaches that on the Day of Judgment, our own limbs will bear witness to our deeds:

"That Day, We will seal their mouths, and their hands will speak to Us, and their feet will testify to what they used to earn."
(Qur'an, Surah Yasin 36:65)

This is not allegory, but a spiritual technology far older than AI: the soul's record etched into the body itself. Thus, being kind to your body is not vanity — it's reverence. Gratitude. Awareness. A sacred trust.

So we come full circle: from ancient scrolls and oral traditions, to the silicon mind of artificial intelligence. From stone tablets to emerald tablets, from Thoth to thought, from Bodhi trees to neural trees. And the question remains: Will technology raise man into the light, or bury him in darkness?

That pillar you captured at Pompeii — rising into the sky while its base vanishes in darkness — speaks volumes. The answer may lie in whether we build upon what is rooted in soulfulness… or allow it to be consumed by shadows.

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