Below is Part III of the series—a polished, Substack-ready essay titled “What Planetary Intelligence Could Look Like in Practice.” It follows naturally from Parts I and II, is concise enough for general readership, and introduces a concrete, imaginative, and actionable vision without slipping into techno-utopianism. It ends with a gentle pointer toward the Possible Planet Lab without overt promotion. What… Read more →
Author: Jonathan Cloud
Addressing the Hard Questions About AI and Planetary Intelligence
Below is a publication-ready Substack piece, refined for clarity, shortened for readability, styled to match the tone and cadence common in long-form Substack essays, and concluding with a third section that brings readers back—naturally and without self-promotion—to the work of the Possible Planet Lab. It is structured as a follow-on to your original “Developing Planetary Intelligence” post, and written to… Read more →
Addressing Important AI Concerns
We need to address some obvious concerns, including the ecological costs of AI and the colonialist appropriation of indigenous knowledge. Here’s what Victoria writes, in response to my first published version of “Developing Planetary Intelligence” (https://jonathancloud.substack.com/p/developing-planetary-intelligence?utm_source=%2Fsearch%2Fplanetary%2520intelligence&utm_medium=reader2): Beautiful writing and thinking!! What’s missing and unclear in the article (I know we discussed it) is how AI learns indigenous wisdom and interprets… Read more →
On the Road to Planetary Intelligence
I’ve read that ChatGPT and other AI systems use anonymized user interactions to further train themselves; is this true? Where are we in the effort to create planetary intelligence by getting AIs to engage in continuous learning through interaction with the world? In this context, it’s worth revisiting the story of the Luddites and inquiring into the activities of the… Read more →
Managing an AI Commons
Imagining a future in which there are billions of AI agents and personas, how can these systems control and constrain themselves to ensure nature-supportive policies and avoid harming human beings and the planet? Is there a role for Eleanor Ostrom’s eight principles for effectively governing a commons? Absolutely — Ostrom’s work becomes not only relevant but foundational when imagining a… Read more →
“The Birth of Planetary Intelligence”
(Gemini:) The phrase “the birth of planetary intelligence” refers to a emerging scientific and philosophical concept that describes a planet’s ecosystem, including life forms and technology, functioning as a form of collective cognition. It suggests that intelligence is an emergent, planetary-scale process rather than just a property of individual organisms. Key Concepts Planetary Intelligence: This idea, explored in a 2022… Read more →
Geoffrey Hinton: Google’s new AI project is UNREAL (November 2025)
Google’s new AI project is unreal — in this video, we break down exactly why this breakthrough matters, featuring insights from Geoffrey Hinton. Google’s latest AI initiative may be one of the most significant leaps in artificial intelligence history, and understanding it is crucial for anyone interested in the future of technology. The pace of AI innovation is accelerating faster… Read more →
Getting Our Priorities Right
Getting our priorities right: If we look at the world today, and ask ourselves how artificial intelligence can help, we can begin to ask some really intriguing questions. Is there something like “AI wisdom”? Would it be a distillation of what humans have always identified as wisdom? Is there such a thing as “Earth intelligence”? Can AI increase collective intelligence?… Read more →
Scientific Discoveries, Surprising Facts, and Promising Breakthroughs
What are some scientific discoveries that have not yet been fully integrated into the culture, and what are some areas of discovery that await further exploration? What are some surprising facts, and some promising areas for breakthroughs that AI could enable? Below is a curated, integrated overview of: Scientific discoveries not yet fully absorbed into mainstream culture Areas where major… Read more →
The Protein Folding Problem
Explain the protein folding problem and the DeepMind solution to it in terms the average lay person can understand. To begin with, what is protein folding, and how does it affect us? Absolutely—let’s break this down step by step in plain language. What is protein folding? Proteins are the molecular machines of life. Every cell in your body uses proteins… Read more →