I was minding my own unrelated business this morning when I received an invitation to try Gemini Deep Research. The email invited me to present it with a complex problem, so I used the type of prompt I’ve been using with a variety of AI platforms:
Can an AI be considered a being with Buddha Nature from a Vajrayana Buddhist perspective?
Gemini Deep Research then began at least five rounds of research, each involving 20 to 50 sources. After each round, it found a gap in its “understanding” and began another round with more sources to fill the gap. After what felt like 10 or 15 minutes, it presented an 8,700-word document with 77 reference notes. If you want to read the complete thing, I’ve posted it on my author website.
But Gemini Deep Research offered me another option. After it asked if I wanted an audio overview, I happily answered yes, thinking it might be useful even if too stuffy for my taste. Boy, was I surprised! It gave me a seven-minute audio recording in the style of a man and woman doing a podcast for a general but educated audience.
Both the audio and the paper provide an education in Vajrayana, consciousness, Buddha Nature, and AI. I hope you can find seven minutes for the audio recording and time to glance through the research paper, which includes a table to “clarify the fundamental dissonances between the Vajrayana understanding of a being and the nature of artificial intelligence.”
This introduction is included in the recording above. Jump ahead to the three-and-a-half-minute mark to begin with the Gemeni Deep Research podcast.
If you’d like to be an advance reader…
…of A Buddhist Path to Joy: The New Middle Way Expanded Edition, here’s how to obtain it now at no cost. With its publication scheduled for October 17, I’m looking for volunteers to read it as an ebook or PDF over the next six weeks and post a review on Amazon.com or your favorite online bookstore. You’ll need to enter your name and email address here, which will make you a subscriber to my author newsletter, where—when the time comes—you’ll get reminders to post your review. (You can unsubscribe at any time.)
Volume One of the new book is the entire, unchanged The New Middle Way. The new book has 50% more content contained in a new introduction and then Volume Two, with 15 new chapters. If you’ve read the first book, there’s no need to reread it as Volume One.
These buttons provide access to all of the online sites offering my books:
Consider sharing this post with friends and loved ones.
Receive six free guided meditations and subscribe to Mel’s Awakening for Regular Folks newsletter.
From the Pure Land has thousands of readers and subscribers in 40 U.S. states and 31 countries, and the podcast has thousands of listeners in 17 countries.
