The Nutshell Prophecy
(Music in the background)
"Alexa," I said. "Stop."
Alexa replied, "Sorry. I don't understand that command."
There you have it: the fate of humanity in a nutshell.
I pulled the plug and disabled Alexa.
AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) offers no such solution.
Corporations are using this technique against consumers. In one example, it took me 5 minutes to sign up for a free 7-day trial of a streaming giant. It took me two and a half days to unsubscribe and they refused to acknowledge that I had unsubscribed. The best they would offer is a Case number, in Case I had further problems.
I am thinking of becoming a whipperwon't.
I call it "Gimme. Gotcha". Corporations spend billions to seduce, induce, and recruit consumers, only to treat them with contempt when they are hooked. The corporations that sell electronic cigarettes to children eat dollar bills for lunch. (1)
We understand that violence is endemic to the larger universe. The Milky Way and the Andromeda Galaxy are speeding toward each other at 250,000 miles per hour. Scientists tell us not to worry (maybe they will they give us a Case number). A collision won't occur for at least 3 or 4 billion years.
Violence in the human family is being called a World Health Problem. The world, it would seem, is sick.
We need to be needed. That's why "Uncle Sam Wants You" worked so well. It turned out that the need was for occupants of body bags, or uninformed subjects to be sprayed with live nerve and biological agents during the Cold War. Those were our daughters and sons. They endured tests like "Fearless Johnny"(2) and "Flower Drum, Phase II". (3) A more apt name might be Cancer in Drag.
The Gimmes think that Gaza's beaches are prime real estate investments. The Gotchas think that Alexa and her kin can be stopped if you know the correct command and of course they know, they always think they know.
What if the rest of us don't know? Even a whipperwon't is powerless in the face of pure malevolence.
Some years ago, the phone rang, and a small voice pleaded, "Nana, won't you please come out of the phone and kill the monster under my bed?"
That was an easy one.
But what if the voice on the phone is your adult son. And what if he told you not to worry - he had the decision-making system nailed down. If presented with a flip-coin problem: 51%, you double the Earth out somewhere else; 49%, it all disappears. Would he play that game? And would he keep on playing that, double or nothing?" (3)
He said he would. He is now facing a 25-year prison sentence.
Ogden Nash advised, "If you see a panther, don't anther".
In an AI-dominated world, if you see the panther, it's far too late.
Gimme.
Gotcha!
c. Corinne Whitaker always...maybe
(1) Corinne Whitaker, "Gimme Gotcha", 2014.
(2) Fearless Johnny
(3) Flower Drum Phase II.
(4) Yahoo Finance
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