In Ways of Being, you explored what you call “more-than-human intelligence”. How would you explain this idea?  
James Bridle: “The more-than-human refers to the idea that humans are unique, but not special. We are many different beings living on this planet, and as we as humans learn more and more about the others, we start to understand that they are intelligent in many interesting ways. Plants, animals, and whole ecosystems can help us understand how to live better on Earth.” 

You mention the intelligence of plants, animals and ecosystems. Would you describe AI as more-than-human as well?  
 
Bridle: “I always feel like we are talking about two things whenever we talk about AI. We have this science fiction idea of superhuman computers, which implies that it is bigger or better than us, but AI today is just quite complicated software. It's just statistics, mathematics. It really isn’t the same kind of intelligence as that of plants, animals, or humans. 

At the same time, AI offers a way of understanding what we mean when we talk about intelligence. Billionaires and people who run large tech companies imagine AI as something that is all about productivity and profit, which isn’t how most of us think about intelligence. In that sense, I see the rise of AI as an opportunity for us as a species to open ourselves up to new relationships to everything around us.”

Those who run tech companies do decide what AI is being developed for. Doesn’t that also make it a potential threat?   

Bridle: “I don't see computer software AI itself as being a threat, but I do see it's incredibly threatening how it's currently being implemented. It increases the financial, political, and social power of an ever-smaller number of people, who don't necessarily have everyone else's best interests at heart. I also see that it's dangerous to how we understand the world, how it's involved in the reproduction of news and academic knowledge. And of course, there are huge environmental costs to the way that we're currently building AI. 

If AI truly responded to today’s needs, what do you think should it look like?  

Bridle: “There are very interesting examples of how different forms of intelligence work together. One of my favourites is earthquake prediction. In a couple of earthquake zones in Italy, researchers attached sensors to goats and sheep, and they discovered that those animals exhibited very excited patterns of behaviour in the run-up to earthquakes – something that had been talked about in mythology and folklore for a very long time, but that we couldn’t use thoroughly. 
Science hasn’t been able to explain how goats and sheep do this, but this project shows it is enough to just listen to them. We can allow animals to keep living their own wonderful lives while also helping us with the senses we don’t have. Clever software, in this case machine learning, offers us the data we need to understand what is happening and to predict earthquakes so human and other life could be saved.” 

Is this collaboration between different forms of intelligence reflected in your current work, that is focused on agency?   

Bridle: “In my work, I keep coming across the awareness that our lives are determined by systems we don’t understand, which makes us feel helpless about the state of the world. That comes out as fear and uncertainty, but also as rage and anger, and has fuelled the rise of the far right. It’s all connected. For me, the opposite of this feeling is agency: even if you don’t fully understand the world around you, you can still act in meaningful ways. When I was really depressed about the climate, I started building my own solar panels, and it made me feel less uncertain. Now I’m trying to start an energy community, where we come together to make our own renewable infrastructure — not just generating electricity but also building knowledge. 

I learnt this idea of agency from thinking about the more-than-human world, which frees you from thinking individually all the time. Different kinds of intelligence, shaped by different lives and histories, lead to new ways of thinking when put together. Recognising and building this capacity means that more of us will be able to learn and bring about change when we work out what we need to do in the years ahead.”