Nostalgia and Our Humanity in the Age of AI
This week, I’m on the road again, this time in Fargo, North Dakota speaking at the Challey Institute for Global Innovation and Growth. I’m presenting at their Human Progress and Flourishing Workshop, where I will make the case that nostalgia is a driver of human progress and flourishing. If you are a regular reader of Flourishing Friday, this argument will be familiar to you. Based on scholarly research (both my own and that of others), surveys and qualitative analyses from our team at the Human Flourishing Lab, my consulting work with a wide range of organizations, and countless conversations I’ve had with researchers, journalists, artists, scientists, technologists, entrepreneurs, and everyday people around the world who use nostalgia in their own lives, I have come to understand that, for most people, nostalgia is not about living in the past. It is about using the past as a foundation for improving our lives in the present and building a better future.
But there is a dimension of nostalgia that has been implicit in much of my work, one that I think needs to be made more explicit as we navigate a world of rapid technological advancement. Among nostalgia’s important functions is its capacity to remind us of our humanity. Recent research provides direct evidence for this.
In a new paper published in The Journal of Positive Psychology, researchers examined what they call “self-humanity,” the degree to which we internalize and integrate into our self-concept the qualities regarded as uniquely human. These include capacities like moral reasoning, rational thinking, personal agency, emotional complexity, and the ability to form deep social bonds. Across seven studies involving over 3,000 participants, the research team found that nostalgia significantly enhances our sense of self-humanity. When people engage in nostalgic reflection, they experience a heightened awareness of the complex and interconnected attributes that make us feel distinctly human.
In addition, the researchers found that self-humanity serves as a psychological bridge between nostalgia and our social functioning. Specifically, they discovered that the boost in self-humanity from nostalgic reflection increases our motivation to focus on and deepen relationships. It also enhances our social efficacy, our confidence in our ability to navigate social situations and build meaningful connections with others.
I think this connection between nostalgia and self-humanity is crucial to emphasize as we continue to develop and integrate artificial intelligence into nearly every aspect of our lives. We are living through a period of remarkable technological innovation. AI systems are now writing essays, creating art, helping diagnose medical conditions, and even engaging in conversation in ways that can feel remarkably human-like. There is much to be excited about regarding how these tools can enhance our capabilities and aid our efforts to solve complex problems.
Yet our research at Archbridge Institute’s Human Flourishing Lab reveals that many Americans are pessimistic about how AI will influence our future. In a Progress Pulse survey, we presented over 2,000 Americans with two opposing visions of AI’s future impact. In the positive vision, AI helps people take greater control of their lives, increases creativity and fulfillment, and drives advancements that boost prosperity and quality of life. In the negative vision, AI decreases personal control, creativity, and fulfillment while causing disruptions that lead to economic instability and reduced quality of life. We found that 54% of Americans endorse the negative vision, viewing AI as a threat to human flourishing, while 46% endorse the positive vision.
Recent Pew research further illuminates the specific human capacities people worry AI might undermine. This survey revealed that 53% of Americans believe AI will worsen people’s ability to think creatively, and 50% believe it will worsen our ability to form meaningful relationships.
This is where the new research on nostalgia and self-humanity could become especially relevant. As AI continues to advance and take on tasks that were once exclusively human domains, we may find ourselves needing more frequent reminders of our humanity, as well as what aspects of it make our lives meaningful. As I detailed in my book, Past Forward, nostalgia offers us that reminder. It connects us to the qualities that define our humanity, such as our capacity for self-awareness and personal growth, our pursuit of purpose and authenticity, our need for deep social connection, our drive to create and explore, and our desire to situate our personal narrative within broader cultural and historical stories.
This connection between nostalgia and self-humanity may have important implications for how we respond to AI technology itself. When nostalgia heightens our sense of self-humanity, it may help us approach AI not with fear or defensiveness, but with greater confidence in our distinctly human capabilities. It may enable us to see AI as tools that can complement our humanity rather than replace it.
I expect nostalgia to become even more prominent in the years ahead. As AI becomes more sophisticated and more integrated into our daily lives, we will increasingly turn to nostalgia as a way to anchor ourselves in what makes us uniquely human.
Have a great weekend!
Clay