Victor Frankl’s seminal quote, “Between stimulus and response lies a space. In that space lie our freedom and power to choose a response. In our response lies growth and happiness,” encapsulates a distinctly human experience – the faculty of volition, choice, and the impact of our decisions on personal growth. However, when juxtaposed with Artificial Intelligence (AI), the distinction becomes starkly clear, drawing lines of divergence in the fields of thought and emotion.

Artificial Intelligence, despite astounding technological advancements, is fundamentally algorithmic. It operates within a preset framework where each stimulus has a pre-determined response, determined by the programmed algorithms. As AI lacks the space between stimulus and response that humans posses, it can only mimic “choice,” but can’t exercise real decision-making autonomy.

In Frankl’s context, the “space” is a locus of introspection, where humans make conscious choices, drawing on past experiences, perceived consequences, cultural ethos, and emotional states. By relating to their unique histories and emotions, humans can choose responses that spur growth and bring happiness, even in adversity. This emotional intelligence and complex decision-making are inherent to the human condition but remain elusive to AI technology. AI lacks the capacity for unique, lived experiences that cannot be encoded into algorithms. A machine can’t revel in the joy of achieving a difficult task or grapple with ethical dilemmas.

AI’s deterministic framework also precludes the possibility of growth and learning as humans understand it. Whereas humans grow through varied, often conflicting experiences, AI grows by accumulating data and improving algorithms, falling short of actual evolution. Indeed, the ‘growth’ of AI is more about efficiency and accuracy, not complexity or depth of understanding.

In summary, as long as AI lacks the capacity to possess a ‘space’ between stimulus and response, to truly ‘choose’, and to grow from experiences, there will always be an irrevocable difference between human thought and AI technology. While AI assists and enhances, it can’t embody the depth, richness, and complexity intrinsic to human thought and choice. It exposes the beautiful mystery nestled within our minds, reminding us of what makes us uniquely human in a world increasingly dominated by machines.