A.I., A.I., Oh

On a wall near the entrance of a medical office facility, both patients and employees have been asked to contribute to a Gratitude tree in honor of the unnamed holiday coming up this Thursday. (Any guesses?) The tree is barren as folks are encouraged to add a leaf with a message of recognition for something positive in their life. Some of the answers have been quite telling and evocative of life in the 2020s. One mentions being thankful her mother's cancer is in remission, which is wonderful, a leaf over is glad to wake up every morning while another, kind of curiously, appreciates reliable trucks. Hmm. All very sincere leaves on that tree, but one in particular stood out:

A drawing of a TV and a heart with the message :"I am grateful for A.I." 

There's no getting around it. The genie is out, proud and will never go back in the bottle because it will soon be in control. And personally, I don't believe the masses give a fig on way or the other because, in essence, they just want to be taken care of and that's exactly what the demon A.I. is doing, at least for now. We've all been warned about this since the dawning of technology and while it's all been fun and games to think about the advent of Artificial Intelligence being the Boogie Man of All Boogie Men, that's exactly what it boils down to: Fun and games and not be taken seriously. 

We've all dicked around with it. This blog is a perfect example (well, imperfect) and would n't be possible without the two letters that shall not be uttered again, at least in this paragraph. Look at your phones, as if you have to be told, or ask Siri to play you the latest Morgan Wallen tune, turn off your lights and empty your bank account. You (and me) have been lured in with Meme generators and reanimating photographs from long ago in a chance to relive a past without the consequence of memory. Great stuff to play around with and no reason to put childish things away.

There's no reason to harp on about deep fakes. We all believe how we want to anyway, so does it really matter anymore as long as you agree and the other side is a bunch of liars with their pants on fire. You're not going to change their minds any sooner than they will change yours. Right smack dab in the middle is A.I. (I'm back ! Miss me?) not playing referee, that's for sure, but the Chessmaster (or Mistress as if I give a fuck) moving all the pieces around the board. Funny how those pieces look like you and me, ain't it?

The entertainment industry, mostly the creators are all up in arms about it all, but their overlords would prefer to shut them up because they are all headed in this direction. Tilly Norwood is the first A.I. generated actress and will soon be starring in vehicles all her own. (Well, maybe not literally) In viewing her video introduction, I can't tell that she ain't real. She's pretty much a generic little nothing, one of a million other actresses out there who don't stand out from the crowd whatsoever. The clips from her reel are also indistinguishable from 99% of the crap out there, those made from honest to goodness talentless human beings who have junked up with the world with their disposable garbage in the land-fill known as modern entertainment. They (we) have done this to ourselves and there's no turning back.

So what to do? What, you think I have any answers? I'm not your chatbot. As much as this technology can be utilized as a force for good, there are enough insidious monsters out there in the world that will prey upon us, squeeze until there's nothing left and move on to the next series of victims. I can't say I won't use any of the tools available for my own purposes and actually suggest you do the same with the time we have left. Sound bleak? I would say it's more realistic, a word that's going to be offensive in the near future. 

At least, that's what Siri told me.