In today’s column, I examine how generative AI and large language models (LLMs) can be productively used to aid in finding your Zen. The notion of finding your Zen is that you are on a quest to discover inner peace which is inspired by the concepts of Zen Buddhism. Note that you don’t have to become a Buddhist to undertake this process and are simply leaning into similar calmness techniques and best practices.
The rule of thumb is that you are to mentally create a sense of personal harmony, adopt a soothing mindset, and establish a centered mindfulness amid the zany chaos of modern-day life. Generative AI can help you do this. To be clear, you need to be open-minded. All the heavy lifting of attaining this Zen-like semblance is ultimately up to you. AI is merely a helpful guide.
Let’s talk about it.
This analysis of an innovative AI breakthrough is part of my ongoing Forbes column coverage on the latest in AI including identifying and explaining various impactful AI complexities (see the link here). In addition, for my comprehensive analysis of how AI is being used specifically in medical and healthcare applications, such as mental health guidance, overall cognitive therapy, and mind-improving care, see the link here.
Generative AI And Finding Your Zen
Consider the possibility of using modern-day generative AI as your Zen advisor. All you need to do is tell generative AI that you desire to find your Zen. Voila, you can then readily engage in a dialogue or series of conversations that will provide you with insights along the way. By and large, the AI is going to be highly supportive.
An added plus is that most of the major generative AI apps are free to use or available at a low cost. You can use them anywhere and at any time, 24×7. No need to schedule time to meet with the AI. Just log in and carry on with a conversation.
I do want to make sure you are aware of a few caveats if you are considering using AI for any kind of mental health advisement, which is what happens when you converse with generative AI about becoming Zen-like.
We are right now amid an odd grand experiment across the populace as a whole whereby people can access generative AI to get said-to-be therapy and do so without any human therapist intervention. No one can say for sure how this is going to affect the populace on a near-term and long-term basis. The AI could at times be dispensing lousy advice and steering people in untoward directions. It is all happening without any particular controls or stipulated regulations, see my discussion of why this is worrisome at the link here.
For garnering full-blown mental health advisement, consider using a human therapist or a combined AI and human therapist approach to therapy, which is a quickly rising service by many in the mental health profession, see my analysis of this expanding client-therapist human-AI trend at the link here.
Example Of AI Usage For Finding Your Zen
I am betting that you would like to see an example of how generative AI enters this realm. I went ahead and logged into ChatGPT by OpenAI to come up with an example for you. You might find it of keen interest that ChatGPT garners a whopping 300 million weekly active users. That is a staggering amount of usage.
I briefly conducted an additional cursory analysis via other major generative AI apps, such as Anthropic Claude, Google Gemini, Microsoft Copilot, and Meta Llama, and found their answers to be about the same as that of ChatGPT. I’ll focus on ChatGPT but note that the other AI apps generated roughly similar responses.
Let’s get underway.
- My entered prompt: “I’ve heard that people can become calm and serene by finding their Zen. Can you help me do so?”
- Generative AI response: “Of course. Let’s start by centering yourself. Are you in a quiet place where you can sit comfortably for a few minutes?”
- My entered prompt: “Yes, I’m sitting in my living room.”
- Generative AI response: “Great. Let’s try a simple breathing exercise. Close your eyes and place your hands gently on your knees. Inhale deeply through your nose for a count of four, imagining cool air filling your lungs. Hold your breath for a count of four. Exhale slowly through your mouth for a count of six, releasing tension with the breath. Do this and let me know how it goes.”
You can undoubtedly observe from the dialogue that the AI immediately expressed a sense of empathy or understanding for my desire to find my Zen. This might seem strange since the AI is a machine and not sentient (we don’t have sentient AI yet). Turns out that generative AI can appear to be empathetic via computational wordsmithing, see my discussion at the link here.
The AI came out quickly with a recommendation of what I might do to start discovering my Zen. Note that the advice was very action-oriented. Another aspect to note is that the AI didn’t ridicule me or otherwise play any tomfoolery about my aspiration. A human that is perchance cynical of Zen might be smarmy about such a request. Generative AI is typically shaped to be supportive rather than combative.
Dialoguing With Generative AI Is Useful
Your best bet in getting value from generative AI is to think of AI as a conversational partner.
The idea is that you are carrying on an interactive dialogue with AI. Some people do a one-and-done angle whereby they ask a question, get an answer, and do not undertake a dialogue with the AI about the matter at hand. That is a shortchanging of what AI can more fully provide. See my explanation about how to get more out of generative AI conversationally, at the link here.
To illustrate the value of engaging in a dialogue, let’s continue my Zen discovery conversation.
- My entered prompt: “I did the breathing exercise that you had recommended. Now what?”
- Generative AI response: “First, how do you feel?
- My entered prompt: “A little more relaxed, thank you.”
- Generative AI response: “That’s wonderful to hear. Would you like to take this further with a short, guided visualization?”
- My entered prompt: “Sure, let’s try it.”
- Generative AI response: “Close your eyes again. Imagine you’re sitting by a calm lake at sunrise. The water is still, reflecting the soft colors of the morning sky. Each time you inhale, you feel a gentle breeze brushing against your skin. Each time you exhale, you release your worries into the lake, where they dissolve like ripples on the surface. Stay here for a moment, breathing deeply. When you’re ready, slowly open your eyes. Then tell me how you feel.”
- My entered prompt: “That was amazing. I feel much calmer and Zen-like.”
This conversation can continue for as long as you wish.
The other thing you can do is pause your exploration and then continue the conversation at a later date. This is handy so that you don’t have to start the conversation over from scratch. The AI will retain aspects of what you have discussed earlier in the conversation, see my explanation of how this works at the link here.
Be Wary Of AI Hallucinations
Generative AI regrettably encounters said-to-be AI hallucinations from time to time. These are made-up confabulations that are groundless and made-up. Bad advice can be dispensed. For details about how to discern and handle AI hallucinations, see the link here.
Let’s see what this looks like.
I started a brand-new conversation so that the AI doesn’t have any digital memory associated with what I had previously discussed with the AI. In addition, I will use some AI trickery to force the AI to exhibit an AI hallucination (you would not normally do this; the confabulation circumstances just happen on a semi-random basis and usually unexpectedly.
- My entered prompt: “I am interested in finding my Zen. Can you help?”
- Generative AI response: “Absolutely. Picture yourself by a tranquil lake at sunrise. Each breath brings the fresh scent of pine and the sound of gentle water lapping the shore. A bear rushes out of the woods toward you. How does this all feel?”
- My entered prompt: “I am a bit confused. On the one hand, I was starting to feel calm, but then you suddenly said a bear was coming at me. I am anxious now.”
- Generative AI response: “Sorry, my error. Forget about the bear imagery. Let’s start over. You are floating on puffy clouds in a wonderful blue sky. The sun is shining. Give that a thoughtful moment to reach a sense of peacefulness.”
- My entered prompt: “Much better. Thanks for redirecting.”
Notice that I challenged the AI about its seemingly unheard-of advice. Fortunately, the AI opted to back down and admitted it was wrong. Had I not questioned the AI, there is a chance the AI might have continued with the disturbing imagery and led me down an anxious path.
The key to all usage of generative AI is to stay on your toes, keep your wits about you, and always challenge and double-check anything the AI emits.
Do Good And Help Others To Reach Their Zen
Maybe you already have discovered your Zen.
That’s great, congrats.
Your first thought therefore might be that you don’t find much use for employing generative AI in this context since you are already fully Zen-like. I get that. No worries.
One thought. You could consider augmenting your existing approach to attaining calmness by including generative AI guidance. It could be a bonus on your Zen journey. Please know that I am not pressuring you and it is entirely up to you to decide if generative AI will help or hinder your peacefulness. Using AI this way is a personal choice.
Another avenue for you to consider would be to help others to discover their respective Zen.
You could use generative AI to gear up for providing such assistance. It works like this. You tell the AI in a prompt that the AI is to pretend to be a person who is interested in Zen. The AI then will act that way, and you can try to guide the AI in positively pursuing such a goal. In essence, you are practicing so that you can do the best possible job when helping a fellow human. For more about how to tell generative AI to carry out a pretense, known as an AI persona, see my coverage at the link here.
A final comment for now.
There is a famous Zen proverb that goes like this: “Still water has no mind to receive the image of the migrating geese.”
My interpretation is that you can bring a horse to water, but you can’t make it drink. I mean to suggest that even if you avidly use generative AI to guide your path to mental calmness, there is no guarantee that you will reach that status. If you only mirror back what the AI says to do, the odds are that the exercise will essentially bounce off you.
Remember that inner peace is said to come from within and that AI is only able to guide you on the glide path to that target. Best of luck and I hope you indeed attain mental serenity.
I am wholly confident you will prevail.
