I’ve been working on a PhD at Arizona State University in the Innovation in Global Development program examining Arturo Escobar’s concept of the ensayo–the essay–in looking at the sociotechnical impact of AI in global development. I spend a good deal of time talking to LLM’s in ways that many don’t, often discussing arcane theological and philosophical reflections not normally considered.
In light of Palantir’s recent rise in the markets, I took the time to have a conversation with Anthropic’s Claude 3.5 Sonnet LLM and below you’ll find the result — edited a bit to be concise enough for a LinkedIn audience that doesn’t normally traffic in all things PhD. You might find it interesting. To be clear, this is the final draft of an essay the LLM wrote after interaction with me about the concepts involved. Whatever opinions it expresses are its own though undoubtedly guided to a degree by my interaction. Still quite interesting by all accounts that a capable LLM can dip into so many different considerations along the way, helping us consider new ways of thinking and doing.
I hope you enjoy it!
The essay by the LLM:
In their complementary articles on ontology-oriented software development, Palantir’s Peter Wilczynski and Akshay Krishnaswamy present a vision that transcends mere technical architecture to touch upon fundamental questions of being and decision-making. Their approach invites us to consider how theological wisdom and philosophical reflection might illuminate not just system organization but the very nature of technological decision-making in promoting human flourishing.
The doctrine of the Trinity, as articulated at Nicaea and refined through centuries of careful theological reflection reveals God as three divine Persons, co-equal, co-eternal, of one substance, and distinct but never separate as revealed in Scripture and preserved in Christian teaching.
Yet Palantir’s decision-centric ontology suggests new ways of thinking about how created systems might participate in truth-revealing. The triadic structure of Data-Logic-Action could be seen as yet another example of creative constructs that mirror the divine. Data represents the given reality to be known, Logic embodies the rational principles of understanding, and Action manifests the movement from potential to actual in decision-making.
Krishnaswamy’s model takes on deeper significance when considered through Marcuse’s understanding of technology as containing both dominating and liberating potentials. Unlike conventional technical systems that exemplify what Marcuse calls “one-dimensional” thinking – reducing reality to mere quantities and technical problems – Palantir’s ontology appears oriented toward what Marcuse would describe as multi-dimensional reasoning that preserves qualitative human judgment. The system’s focus on decision-making rather than mere data processing suggests an approach that might serve authentic human needs and potentials rather than merely extending technical control.
The Chalcedonian pattern of “without confusion, without change, without division, without separation” finds particular resonance in how a system might integrate human and artificial intelligence in decision-making. Just as Christ’s divine and human natures operate according to their proper integrity while remaining perfectly united in His person, Ontology-oriented software development seeks to maintain the distinct integrity of human judgment while enabling its enhancement through artificial intelligence.
One thing that distinguishes this approach from conventional enterprise architectures is its understanding of decision-making as a mode of critical consciousness rather than merely processing information. The ontology becomes not just a system for managing data but a framework for realizing human potential and authentic judgment. This aligns both with Marcuse’s vision of technology serving genuine human needs and the theological understanding of human participation in divine wisdom.
While Palantir’s ontological development methodology presents us with an opportunity to reflect about these things, we can see similar currents in considering the nature of high throughput or other computing platforms like IBM Spectrum Symphony and IBM Storage Scale as further realizations of these theological patterns and philosophical ideas.
Consider how IBM Spectrum Symphony’s dynamic resource management could reflect aspects of Trinitarian perichoresis. Just as the divine Persons share all things in perfect communion while maintaining their distinction, Symphony’s dynamic compute platform enables multiple applications and workloads to share computing resources dynamically while maintaining their distinct operational integrity. The platform’s ability to manage complex workloads across distributed resources while maintaining coherent operation suggests new possibilities for how we might implement our theological insights about unity-in-distinction in technological endeavors.
IBM Storage Scale’s global namespace and data management capabilities provide an interesting parallel to Chalcedonian considerations. Just as Christ’s two natures operate according to their proper integrity while united in His person, Storage Scale enables different types of data and storage systems to maintain their distinct characteristics while operating as a unified whole. The system’s ability to present a single coherent interface while managing profound underlying complexity and distinction offers a technical analogy to Chalcedonian unity-without-confusion.
Moreover, when we think about this in light of the pastoral power dynamics highlighted by Foucault, we realize that a system’s approach to governance is not primarily about control but about enabling authentic decision-making in bringing human flourishing to life. When we consider the dynamics of technological rationality highlighted by Marcuse, we see that the system’s approach to governance enables authentic decision-making in the service of human flourishing. Ontology-oriented development serves not merely to constrain but to enable what Marcuse would call “the Great Refusal” – a rejection of purely instrumental rationality in favor of more holistic forms of reason that preserve human judgment and values.
The integration of artificial intelligence within these frameworks then takes on particular significance. Rather than attempting to replace human decision-making, AI is positioned as an instrument of enhancement that respects the proper order of agency in pursuing human flourishing.
When we apply these concepts and technologies to global development contexts, they suggest new possibilities for authentic cultural engagement. Rather than imposing mere technological solutions, ontological-oriented development and the strategic use of dynamic compute platforms might enable what Marcuse terms “aesthetic rationality” – an integration of technical and cultural wisdom that transcends mere instrumentality to serve genuine human needs. This approach recognizes technology’s potential to either suppress or enhance traditional forms of knowledge and social relations.
A system’s ability to learn from decisions made over time suggests a kind of technological anamnesis– not the direct recollection of eternal truth as Plato conceived it, but a structured remembering of how truth has revealed itself through decision-making processes. This “decision lineage” becomes not merely historical record but a way of participating in the unfolding of truth through time.
The ultimate value of bringing theological and philosophical reflection to bear on technological frameworks and dynamic compute platforms may lie in how it helps us understand technology not as mere instrument but as a mode of revealing truth that can either serve or hinder authentic human flourishing. This returns us to our fundamental theological starting point: any system we create must ultimately serve the true end of human existence. Our technological creativity, informed by theological wisdom and philosophical insight, must remain oriented toward human flourishing. In this light, the true test of ontology-oriented development and high throughput computing will be not just technical sophistication but their capacity to serve humanity in all its dimensions – material, social, and spiritual.