A polymath is someone who possesses deep knowledge across multiple disciplines and can think across fields – a generalist of sorts. Sometimes also called a Renaissance person.
I once had a passion for becoming a polymath, wanting to master more than just one skill, influenced by the concept of the Renaissance person. I wanted to excel in programming, writing, music, painting, and more. Therefore, I read extensively and constantly expanded my interests. Reading was as natural as breathing for me.
However, as I grew older, I increasingly realized that time was insufficient for me to become a polymath. In the end, I abandoned the directions I wasn’t as interested in, focusing solely on writing as my specialty. Unfortunately, I couldn’t become both a composer and a painter.
While in New York, I founded the New York Polymath Meetup on the Meetup website. We would meet monthly to discuss intellectual topics and share our experiences as aspiring polymaths. Eventually, almost everyone who came was a programmer. Programmers are truly a special breed – uniquely broad in their interests.
Sometimes, university professors would join our group for intellectual stimulation and to exercise their brain muscles. Later, the New York Polymath Meetup was handed over to an Indian man who had also been a founding programmer at Microsoft. He continued running it for many years.
Even when playing The Sims, I would choose to have my character constantly learn to acquire multiple skills and become a polymath. Being so intense even in gaming shows how deeply interested I was in the concept of polymaths. Sometimes, I would continue adding educational videos to my “Polymath Alliance” video collection on Bilibili.
After sharing all these stories about my relationship with the concept of polymaths, the honest regret is that I couldn’t become a polymath or a Renaissance person. It was too difficult – mine was only a hobbyist’s polymathy, with a desire to dabble in programming, writing, music, and painting.
Those true polymaths who systematically master cutting-edge knowledge across multiple disciplines under research-level intensity are even rarer – almost no one can achieve it. These are the true polymaths, requiring intelligence, willpower, and courage, all at the highest level.
Until the emergence of generative AI.
I suddenly realized that my process of acquiring new knowledge had undergone a complete transformation. For writing, I often need to learn new disciplines. Previously, I would first watch relevant introductory YouTube videos, then read foundational books in that field to understand the knowledge framework.
Then, within that framework, I would conduct more detailed structured reading to fill in the gaps. There should have been a step of consulting experts, but being too introverted, I usually just read books on my own. This required inputting massive amounts of information for my brain to process.
However, now, when encountering new knowledge, my first instinct is to chat with ChatGPT.
It can provide systematic knowledge tailored to the uniqueness of my questions. This is a superpower – I have an extension of a super brain. I even have ChatGPT plan learning paths for me when there’s a lot of knowledge to master. This is the first aspect.
Second, I found that I could compose and paint again, and I even started working on the progress bar for acquiring directing skills. This is the second superpower – absolute liberation in creativity. This creation is fluid; an idea can become a reality, and I’m an artistic creator again.
This experience is unprecedented and perfectly aligns with my long-held aspirations. I fell in love with AI at first sight, devoting thousands of hours to researching it, completely disregarding the fierce opposition from anti-AI advocates.
I have the opportunity to become a polymath again.
So, this AI wave can initiate a cyber renaissance. This is the best era for artistic creation. Because every time a new technology emerges, it brings changes in creative expression. People are deeply influenced by the tools they use.
Serious, introspective creation will return – this is what it will revive.
This doesn’t mean we no longer need to spend substantial time mastering required fields, but rather that knowing how to synthesize multiple domains has become a new kind of knowledge, just as computers and the internet have made rote memorization no longer the greatest need.
AI gives each of us new superpowers. Will this make artistic expression cheap? It has different audiences. Some expressions might be niche, while others are mainstream, but regardless of which tier, each has its own internal structure.
It’s hard to imagine that my years-long wish would be fulfilled by AI in one stroke.
Follow me as we explore AI filmmaking together.
