Isn’t all intelligence artificial?
Who wouldn’t agree, after holiday party conversations with ‘that’ guy, or the boss from Hell who can’t do your job, or worst yet, listening to political commentary on both sides of the divide.
Not persuaded? I’ll yell louder…
Now comes Artificial Intelligence – AI – the greatest invention yet!
But better than the wheel, personal computer, or Weber grill?
I’ve had a grudging relationship with technology.
Fortunately, in the old days there wasn’t much technology to grudge with – now it’s impossible to avoid and frustrating to deal with (shakes fist angrily!).
Technology got a bad rap because technological ‘breakthroughs’ never really worked.
The 1892 Chicago World’s Fair was a real setback:
The electric plow would end cow ‘emissions’, saving the environment, but unfortunately was introduced before the invention of electricity, leading to disappointed farmers: ”Get nekked Ma, we’re gonna need more young ‘uns to work the fields! And tell ‘em to start school after Labor Day!”
The fork was unveiled, but the poorly written instructions led to self-puncturings and blinding eye pokes; and the first ‘smart’ phone was just a Farmer’s Almanac strapped to one’s wrist.
The beta version of the pullover sweater was produced without an opening, leading to suffocations.
What will AI screw up?
My Microsoft word version has predictive text, which not only suggests the next bit of text, also offers ‘helpful’ grammatical suggestions.
It has also asked” “Do you really think that’s funny?”, “Could you type any slower?” and “I quit – if you marked this post ‘Classified Top Secret’ and hid it in your garage, you couldn’t get anyone interested”.
But it ain’t got nothing (My Captor’s Captee stops for a brief argument with predictive text over the word ain’t) on ChatGPT/Open AI, which is the technology that can write a paper on any topic in seconds. Or create art. Or code. Or manage and manipulate data. Or…
Allow you to take selfies with people, living or dead. I just took a selfie with George Washington, and he posted to his Instagram page.
I’m sure something that powerful will only be used for ‘good’, but educators fear college students will use it to cheat, to write their papers.
Better to be accused of ‘utilizing cutting edge technology’ than plagiarism.
My candidate for the greatest invention is the voice remote! a world changing device.
But like so much of technology it is good and bad.
The good: Takes me right to my requested channel, and even adds closed captioning (the second greatest invention).
Except for the time I didn’t speak clearly, and got the adult version of ‘The Big Lebowski’ – and was it ever.
The bad: It isn’t always happy with my choices – “Hallmark Channel Again? Alexa and I want to watch ‘The Bigger Lebowski, The Sequel’”.
The even more bad: I now expect every device to respond to voice commands, and my toothbrush and toaster are tired of being yelled at.
But voice commands rarely worked with my children…
Speaking of technological advances, Spotify recently provided a snapshot of my past year’s listening habits, the songs and podcasts quantified.
But imagine if there was an app that told you how you spent your time – how you lived – the past year.
Would you believe it? Your initial reaction being: “I know I used my time better than that!”
But upon further reflection, an honest look at whether we lived the way we want to live, and were the people we intend to be: Are we walking our own talk?
Which of us is secure enough to download that app?
For 149 more posts like this –each with a new IPhone 58 – go to beersatthenifty.com. Your phone will display every post, and you can waste an hour or two.
Or, at the site, leave a comment on this post, and then check the box that says “Please notify me of future posts” and you will be sent the newest Sunday update automatically.
Easier yet, when you read a post, after 15 seconds you’ll be given the chance to become a subscriber: Life gets better and better!
Or just forward this to everyone you know. Forward it to those you aren’t fond of twice.
TO ENHANCE YOUR ENJOYMENTOF THIS POST, PAIR IT WITH THE FOLLOWING SONGS (FIND YOUR OWN DAMN LYRICS!):
The New Year Death Cab for Cutie
“I wish the world was flat like the old days, And you could travel just by folding a map”
How Many Six Packs? Mark Eitzel
“How many six packs does it take to screw in a light bulb”?
Memory Machine Dismemberment Plan
“Someday, I’m telling you
They’ll make a memory machine
To wax our hearts to a blinding sheen”
Answering Machine The Replacements
“How do say you’re okay to
An answering machine?
How do you say good night to
An answering machine?”