Pluto just went back to Capricorn yesterday. This is a very different feeling with Pluto back in an earth sign – Capricorn and having spent a couple of months entertaining itself and finding out what it feels like to be in Aquarius. During the last few months, all the chatter has been about local banks failing and more and more people looking at AI (Artificial Intelligence) as a viable alternative to writing, thinking, and learning. Earlier in May, Geoffrey Hinton, often considered the ‘godfather of AI’ gave a very interesting interview about what his thoughts were regarding AI as he has been involved in its development for forty or maybe fifty years. Article can be read at https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/01/tech/geoffrey-hinton-leaves-google-ai-fears/index.html
One of the opportunities we have as Pluto has returns to practical earth-bound Capricorn is to take Hinton’s thoughts as well as others who warn us about the pros and cons of AI and take them seriously, perhaps even putting into place, now, not later, regulatory rules (Saturn) regarding this brave new world of machine intelligence. I think they are correct. It is important to think before we decide that we can ‘learn’ from AI. Learning takes different approaches. Bill Gates recently spoke about his thoughts on how children could be learning to read (I believe he is referring to learning the logistics of the sounds of letters) using AI in 18 months. I do not think Gates meant that someone could teach someone how to interpret reading using AI, since the bottom line, is that AI is designed with a point of view programmed by the programmer. AI doesn’t have the many synapses we have with our intuition to come up with integrative and intuitive thought. The fact that Pluto has returned to Capricorn until January 20, 2024 provides us with the opportunity to review these new ideas and thoughts.
On another level, the current retrograde back to Capricorn, is the perfect time to streamline and make our businesses and lifestyles far more efficient. As Pluto returns to Aquarius permanently in late December 2024, our perceptions of what we value are shifting. This is why streamlining any part of your life is suggested during this next year and a half. The new currency in the world will not necessarily be tangible things, but instead ideas and information and the sharing of information. In the beginning at least, there might be some problems with all the new technologies, like deep fakes or more cons in crypto, but eventually things get sorted out after the initial shift begins. Anytime something new comes into our lives, and we don’t have experience, it takes a few years to shake things out.
Getting back to this week, Saturn is about to retrograde at 7° Pisces on Saturday – it could feel as though one is dragging one’s feet as Saturn begins to slow down. That is okay because once Saturn is retrograde (my favorite movement of Saturn each year) those organizational ideas we were thinking about now have feet (no pun intended) and the time to put a plan in place is now. The timing couldn’t be more perfect because Mercury just caught up to its retrograde position back in late April. Plus, as Saturn is stationing it is in lovely sextile aspect to Mercury itself. Those two working together allow for solid foundations coming out of the trial and error of these last few weeks.
