AI and the Collective Unconscious: A Conversation with Nicholas Brethour

Sarah Burt
Sep 16
3 min read

Artificial intelligence is often described in terms of efficiency: faster code, optimization, streamlined processes. But what if we’re missing the point?

What if AI isn’t just about optimization, it’s about amplification? About reflecting back the hidden corners of our consciousness and nudging us toward growth?

In the latest episode of Artificial Impact, I sat down with author and entrepreneur Nicholas Brethour to explore exactly that. Our conversation danced into Jungian psychology, mythology, spirituality, and the very real ways AI can either diminish or deepen what it means to be human.

Nicholas describes AI as a tool that reflects the collective unconscious and amplifies the archetypes and stories we carry within us. It’s more than data in/data out. It’s dreams, patterns, fears, and longings emerging through an algorithmic lens.

That means the way we engage with AI matters deeply. If we come to it unconsciously, it can reinforce our blind spots, biases, and shadows. But if we bring intention, curiosity, and humility, AI can become a creative partner in our evolution, helping us integrate the unseen parts of ourselves.

Myth, Archetypes, and Awakening

At the heart of Nicholas’s journey is his book, The Saffron Tiger, named after his personal archetype and symbol of awakening. We talked about how mythology is more than ancient stories, it’s the architecture of the psyche. Carl Jung knew this well: the collective unconscious holds archetypes that shape both individual and cultural evolution.

When we engage with myth, whether through reading the "legends", dream interpretation, storytelling, or yes, even AI, we’re connecting with something timeless. We’re tapping into the threads that bind us across generations, cultures, and inner landscapes. The singular thread that ties our collective experience, as humans, together across time and space.

Of course, this isn’t all light and wonder. Nicholas also emphasized the dangers of AI, its ability to seduce us into disconnection, distraction, and a false sense of certainty. When used without awareness, it can diminish consciousness rather than expand it. His brilliant correlation to the antichrist architype is fascinating and had my mind spiraling for days following our chat.

But the flip side is powerful. AI can also, undoubtedly, accelerate our understanding of the self and the collective. By surfacing unconscious content and offering new ways of seeing, it can quicken the pace of personal growth. Used wisely, it’s less about replacing human intelligence and more about creating conditions for awakening.

Finding Purpose in the Age of AI

What struck me most in this conversation was the reminder that AI is not “other.” It’s us. It’s trained on our language, our myths, our collective memory. Which means the question isn’t just what will AI become? The question is: what will we become alongside it?

Nicholas and I agreed, this moment calls for intentionality. For finding purpose and community in the midst of rapid change. For remembering that spiritual awakening isn’t about escaping the world, but about showing up more fully in it.

🎧 Listen to the full episode on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/4pT59sFWB8M03Z7qq8THye?si=b88bb4b1fff5411d

This one is for the seekers, the curious, and anyone who feels the quiet pull to live with more clarity, trust, and connection. Period.