Mariner has been traveling, experiencing the wonderful Southwest Airline, mid-twentieth century airports, and marveling at the cultural and environmental differences between Iowa and Burbank California. While in Burbank, he was entertained by a huge tortoise kept in a yard as a pet – about two and a half feet high – and cute little miniature chameleons scurrying in gardens. It was gratifying to find a culture rich in diversified races, different cuisine and a society that maximizes the existential experience of life.
While on his journey and not writing posts, his readership had a nice bump; it must have been something he didn’t say.
The hubbub in the news today is all the new uses for robots that contain regenerative AI code. To date, the news has covered quick ways humans can avoid repetitive chores like writing contracts, validating health checkups, writing term papers, etc. But now, scientists are having compassion for idiot robots and inserting AI applications to make them act like idiot humans. This is serious. The man below is surrounded by robot dogs. How does one pet a robot dog? Is it as cuddly a feeling as cuddling a real dog? What will robot dogs do when their regenerative wisdom slips off track? Can dogs speak English? Robot sex dolls can . . . May as well marry a human while you can.
[Yes, that is not a real human – it’s a talking sex doll.]
Meet your child’s new BFF at preschool; Do little robots behave like real three-year olds? Will robot babies come from the Meta world?
Begrudgingly, mariner will face the future; it will come and the world will not be the same. But there is something insidious about today’s change in social era: Humans won’t be in charge of important personal behaviors – corporations will run the world even so much as to diminish the importance of a citizen’s right to vote.
An analogy using the automobile will clarify:
When Henry Ford made automobiles, he sold them with no strings attached. It was a human that controlled the act of purchasing or not purchasing. A human could do whatever they wanted to do with the automobile; Ford didn’t care – he had his payment and moved to making the next automobile. Citizens were the decision makers in their lives.
Today, modern communications and AI technology are changing the decision process. Every interface with every social transaction is an experience where, to some degree, your personal decision is subject to corporate influence. Every mile you drive, every destination you reach, every service station you use, every restaurant, every job location, every school or church is noted. This personal data is used to set health and auto insurance rates, track regional gas consumption that affects prices, determines your financial status and otherwise identify you as a given type of person politically and socially.
Many years ago mariner was looking for an automobile. Needless to say, he began receiving ads offering discounts or other deals on relatively inexpensive vehicles. Why didn’t they offer a fine Cadillac? Because at the time his income was meager. They knew; they made the decision as to what kind of automobile he should buy.
What else is not his to determine? The isolation of the stock market from the general economy prohibits meaningful participation by everyday citizens. Further, computers do most of trading without human intervention.
The typical sweetness of progress today carries a bad odor. Oh, to have his two ponies and a cart!
Ancient Mariner