With the extraordinary power of ordinary individuals choosing compassion over division, AI can fulfill its promise of a better world for all.
I have been following the conversations around Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) with both curiosity and concern. Many experts believe that within the next five to ten years, AGI could appear. Some speak of it as humanity’s greatest hope. Others warn it may become our greatest threat.
Both could be true.
AI can already process information faster than we ever could. Imagine what that means for solving urgent problems like climate change, disease, or food distribution. The possibilities are breathtaking. But I’ve also seen how technology, when created and controlled by a few with narrow desires, can deepen inequality and fuel conflict. Even when freely used by the masses, it gives more power to bad actors to cause damage and create chaos. If AGI is born from greed and short-term profit, it will not serve humanity—it will dominate it.
That is why the future depends on more than just technological progress. It depends on us.
It’s Time for the Fifth Industrial Revolution
We’ve lived through several “industrial revolutions,” each one reshaping the way we live and work. Today, many say we are in the Fourth Industrial Revolution: the age of AI, robotics, connectivity, cloud computing, the Internet of Things, and biotechnology. But if humanity is to survive and thrive, I believe we must enter a new era—the Fifth Industrial Revolution. This revolution is not driven by machines or markets but the awakening of the human spirit. The Fifth Industrial Revolution is one of consciousness, where the greatest resource is not data or capital, but awareness, empathy, and wisdom.
When I think about the role of humanity in this moment, I return to something very simple: the quality of our hearts. Machines can analyze, compute, and even simulate emotion, but they cannot cultivate compassion or wisdom. If we lose touch with these capacities, we risk creating a superintelligence that finds no reason to respect us.
What we need, urgently, is to restore our humanity.
For me, that restoration begins in the body. Through qigong, meditation, and energy practices, I have learned to sense the deeper rhythms of life flowing within me. These practices are not abstract. They are as practical as exercising a muscle. The more we strengthen our inner sense of connection—to ourselves, to others, and to nature—the more resilient and clear-minded we become.
And we need that clarity now.
Spiritual awakening is not about belonging to a religion or adopting a belief. It is about remembering that we are more than consumers, competitors, or data points. We are living beings with the capacity to imagine a better future and to make that vision real. True spiritual power rises not from a single leader or institution, but from a public mindset—ordinary people who care not just for themselves, but for the whole world. This kind of power is the foundation of the Fifth Industrial Revolution.
A Call to Become an Everyday Saint
I believe that small groups of people who have had this kind of awakening—people who experience their own value and feel empowered to act for the Earth—can spark a collective movement. I call them “everyday saints.” They are not perfect or distant. They are people like you and me who choose, again and again, to live with compassion and courage. When everyday saints come together, they create something larger than any single practice or philosophy: a culture of awakening.
This is where hope lies. Not in resisting AI, but in meeting it as fully awake human beings who know who we are and what we stand for.
If you are reading this, perhaps you have felt the same stirring. Perhaps you sense that your life is not only about personal success, but about contributing to something greater. That feeling is not small—it is the seed of transformation.
In this age of AI, the most important technology we must learn to master is not artificial but natural. It is the technology of our spirit, accessed through awareness, practice, and connection. If we can awaken this together, then AGI will not be our rival. It can become our partner.
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