Intelligence that’s artificial

Dear Blog Diary,

You know how when Gandalf has to give the ring to Frodo from Bilbo, he’s creeped out by the ring? He doesn’t know it’s THE ring but there’s evil there. It could be!

He understands the destruction and nature of a ring like the one to rule them all. He looks into the ring, sees fire, and is terrified. He won’t even touch it.

Seals it in an envelope and gives that envelope to Frodo, freaking the fuck out of Frodo in the process.

And as he urgently rushes out, Gandalf says “Keep it secret. Keep it safe.”

And not for even ten seconds does he stop and say, “Oh hey and whatever you do, don’t put the fucking thing on.”

That’s kinda how I feel about AI.

One way or another, all of this is going to happen. We don’t have milkmen anymore, and if we did they would be called “milk delivery-service persons.” But at some point, that profession was no more.

I do criticize young people for being dumb. Every generation says that about the ones after them.

I hold that the biggest difference is that gen z and alpha don’t vibe with things that came before them whereas I love James brown, Paul Newman, Frank Sinatra, list goes on.

I joke that the boomers killed the middle class and then even if we brought manufacturing back to the US, what gen Z are going to work manual labor?

What I will say is that as I get older, the more I understand that I’m becoming a dinosaur. I know Dua Lipa is a singer but I can’t name a song. I know six seven is phrase young people use. I don’t know what it means.

Some things are good. Inclusive language is awesome. Some things are just dumb. Like rap after OutKast stopped making music.

I suppose the thing is, whatever’s going to happen is going to happen. AI is going to keep being developed. It will change everything, and no one’s telling us to keep it secret or safe, let alone telling us to not put it on.

Best,

E

#ARTiculate