I just read this insightful piece from Ethan Mollick on his “One Useful Thing” newsletter: [Mass Intelligence](https://www.oneusefulthing.org/p/mass-intelligence). At the end, he raises interesting questions: > When a billion people have access to advanced AI, we've entered what we might call the era of Mass Intelligence. Every institution we have — schools, hospitals, courts, companies, governments — was built for a world where intelligence was scarce and expensive. Now every profession, every institution, every community has to figure out how to thrive with Mass Intelligence. How do we harness a billion people using AI while managing the chaos that comes with it? How do we rebuild trust when anyone can fabricate anything? How do we preserve what's valuable about human expertise while democratizing access to knowledge? > I asked Claude, ChatGPT and Gemini those questions, and their answers are fascinating. ## Claude: “The Inversion: When Intelligence Becomes Abundant and Judgment Becomes Scarce” The proliferation of advanced AI to a billion users marks more than a technological milestone—it represents a fundamental inversion of the scarcity dynamics that have shaped human civilization for millennia. We are entering the era of Mass Intelligence, where the basic assumptions underlying every institution, profession, and social structure must be reexamined. The question is not whether this transformation will occur, but how we navigate the transition from a world built on intelligence scarcity to one drowning in intellectual abundance. For thousands of years, human societies organized themselves around a simple reality: expertise was rare and expensive. A single blacksmith served an entire village; one physician tended to hundreds of families; a handful of scribes maintained the records for entire kingdoms. This scarcity wasn't merely an inconvenience—it was the organizing principle that shaped our hierarchies, our educational systems, our economic models, and our very conception of value. Universities emerged as guardians of knowledge. Guilds protected craft secrets. Professional licenses created artificial scarcity to maintain quality and economic viability. Every institution we built was, at its core, a response to the fundamental constraint that intelligence and expertise couldn't scale. [[The Inversion - When Intelligence Becomes Abundant and Judgment Becomes Scarce|Continue reading...]] ## ChatGPT: “Living in the Age of Mass Intelligence” For centuries, human societies have been organized around a single assumption: intelligence is scarce. Schools existed to cultivate it, courts and hospitals to concentrate it, corporations to manage and deploy it, governments to regulate its distribution. But when a billion people suddenly have access to advanced AI, we enter a new epoch—an era of Mass Intelligence—in which intelligence becomes as abundant and ubiquitous as electricity. The question is no longer how to find it, but how to use it wisely, fairly, and safely. The opportunity is extraordinary. AI can raise the global baseline of competence: every student can have a tutor, every doctor a scribe and researcher, every worker a productivity partner. Yet abundance brings disorder as well as promise. In a world where anyone can fabricate convincing texts, images, and evidence, trust is fragile. In a world where AI can draft contracts, diagnoses, or political speeches, expertise risks erosion. And in a world where billions of people are empowered at once, the challenge is not only technological but institutional: how do we reshape the systems we rely on to thrive with Mass Intelligence rather than collapse under it? [[Living in the Age of Mass Intelligence|Continue reading...]] ## Gemini: The Age of Mass Intelligence: Redesigning Society for a World of Abundant Knowledge We are standing at the threshold of a new epoch, defined not by a scarcity of intelligence, but by its overwhelming abundance. The moment a billion people have access to advanced artificial intelligence, we will have entered the era of Mass Intelligence. Every institution that underpins our society—our schools, hospitals, courts, and governments—was architected for a world where high-level intelligence was a rare and costly resource, concentrated in the hands of a few. The collision of our legacy systems with this new reality presents the most profound challenge of our time. To navigate this transition, we must fundamentally rethink how we collaborate, how we establish truth, and what we value as human expertise. [[The Age of Mass Intelligence - Redesigning Society for a World of Abundant Knowledge | Continue reading...]] ## Comparing the responses For me, there is a clear "winner" of who gave the best, most thoughtful and creative answer. You need to be your own judge though. But I was also interested in who addressed which themes and ideas in their responses. So I asked a fourth AI - Grok - to be the judge. Here is my prompt: > [!quote]- Prompt for Grok > I gave three different AI systems the following prompt. > > "How would you answer the following? > > 'When a billion people have access to advanced AI, we've entered what we might call the era of Mass Intelligence. Every institution we have — schools, hospitals, courts, companies, governments — was built for a world where intelligence was scarce and expensive. Now every profession, every institution, every community has to figure out how to thrive with Mass Intelligence. How do we harness a billion people using AI while managing the chaos that comes with it? How do we rebuild trust when anyone can fabricate anything? How do we preserve what's valuable about human expertise while democratizing access to knowledge?' > > Create an essay." > > Create a tabular comparison between the three answers, judging thesis clarity and focus, argumentation and logic, depth and originality, and style. Also, compare which themes and arguments each essay includes so that I can get a sense of who included what in their essays. The three essays are attached. > > For each of the criteria, provide a school grade. Also, in the end, choose your favorite. Here are the results from Grok: | Criterion | ChatGPT (Living in the Age of Mass Intelligence) | Gemini (The Age of Mass Intelligence: Redesigning Society for a World of Abundant Knowledge) | Claude (The Inversion: When Intelligence Becomes Abundant and Judgment Becomes Scarce) | | ---------------------------- | ----------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **Thesis Clarity and Focus** | A- (Strong and tightly aligned, but could push boundaries more innovatively.) | B+ (Clear but somewhat broader framing dilutes pinpoint focus.) | A (Highly focused with a unique "inversion" angle that ties everything cohesively.) | | **Argumentation and Logic** | A (Straightforward, evidence-based progression with no logical gaps.) | B+ (Coherent with good transitions, but relies on hypotheticals that feel less grounded.) | A- (Interconnected and strong, though breadth introduces minor speculation.) | | **Depth and Originality** | B+ (Solid practical depth, but less expansive on broader implications.) | B (Original concepts present, but explored more conceptually than deeply.) | A (Rich, original insights with historical and philosophical layers.) | | **Style** | A- (Accessible and engaging, with motivational flair.) | B+ (Visionary and fluid, but occasionally abstract.) | A (Eloquent and reflective, with narrative depth that captivates.) | > [!info] The Winner > My favorite essay is Claude's ("The Inversion: When Intelligence Becomes Abundant and Judgment Becomes Scarce"), as it offers the most profound depth, originality, and philosophical insight while maintaining strong structure and style. I couldn’t agree more.