Success in creating AI would be the biggest event in human history. Unfortunately, it might also be the last, unless we learn how to avoid the risks.
—Stephen Hawking
Will the mercurial month of October still be October? // Will the dangerous Santa Anas still stir the sands & sear our nerves—then soothe with a Hollywood sunset? // Will the leaves still turn from green to gold & crimson? // Where will the glorious red come from? Roses or rubies? Poppies or cherries, cardinals, or coral? Or will AI mimic shades of war—the blood & bleed? // What will AI do with the nectar of truth and malignancy of lies? // Will currency lack currency? How will humans get it, keep it, stockpile it, hoard it, steal it, lack it, or burn it? Or will it burn itself? //
Does AI know the concept of consciousness or conscience? How you can’t really touch them and convert them to data. // Can AI even grasp a glimmer of integrity—or does it just pretend. (A pretender is always a pretender.) // How will it handle children? And innocence? // Can it erase evil? Or will it sanctify it, bringing down Satan, like a snake handler speaking in tongues? //
Could AI possibly emulate spontaneity & chemistry, zaps of attraction & obsession? Or attempt to feign allure draped in the blackest of silk? // Will it annex full moons and capture elusive constellations? Reassign the nocturnal stealth of leopards or rearrange the azure tides? // Dabble in the occult? //
Are AI assistants available for all manner of intimate connections? Enhancements? Separations? Swaps or exchanges? // Why are AI assistants like Siri and Alexa & robots like Sophia all female-coded voices? // Pleasant service??—helpful, empathetic or—? // In a recent Pew Research study, a lead researcher declared that sex with robots will be commonplace by 2025! // In this new unregulated tech bro movement, why does transparency about sources (like existing art and literature and music, faces, voices, expressions etc.) diminish exponentially as AI development expands—and lawsuits loom? // And why (at the same time) do women only make up 26% of the AI workforce? //
Artificial intelligence may be humanity’s most ingenious invention, unlocking novel forms of creativity, art, and medicine. Depending on whom you ask, it might also wipe out all mankind.
—Nick Bilton
Yes, as dynamic detector, AI can automate & proliferate // replicate & impersonate // captivate & extricate // implicate & incriminate //— but as grand imposter, can AI alone investigate or negotiate? // Elevate or rejuvenate? // Alleviate or mitigate? // How will it attempt to authenticate? // Can it (actually) create—or innovate? //
Yes, it can twin us with facial and voice recognition // pretend to police social media // oversee data security // predict & assess risks // enable threat prevention // take over repetitive tasks // eliminate drivers // preempt your desires with intrusive marketing // stalk your preferences // format your nonet, finish your novel & write your next screenplay // eliminate human error & bias // detect disease & discover new drugs. // It can engineer corporate & consumer finance and gleefully inhabit your personal finances. // It can provide all manner of AI assistants and robots for complex tasks—and has even entered the realm of astrology. // But have you considered the horrific ramifications of AI hallucinations (when a generative AI model generates inaccurate information as it is were correct) ? AKA a confident falsification phenomenon known as AI delusion. //
What all of us have to do is to make sure we are using AI in a way that is for the benefit of humanity, not to the detriment of humanity.
—Tim Cook
Could AI extend human life—transform the art of surgery with unfettered precision, develop cures for all disease, and serve up potent elixirs for eternal youth? // Could AI distribute equality, eliminate virulent violence and broker world peace? //
Will AI eventually acquire intuition, sensory capability, and common-sense reckoning? What about emotional intelligence or genuine emotions? // What about a code of ethics? //
How will AI mingle with artful abstraction? // Or engage with a state of grace? // Will an illusion still be an illusion? A mirror—a mirror? And a reflection—? // Will AI so twirl the Zodiac it will forever alter the trajectory of planetary signs & phases of the moon? // Will the scales of justice tip (without mercy) upending any hope for harmony // Will a Libra still be a Libra? //
Will AI enhance the glow of the Hunter’s Moon tonight & slo-mo the partial eclipse? Will it portend an awesome or apocalyptic change? //
A thoughtful analysis, artfully expressed.
As always brilliant. And this time — unnerving and reminding us of the terrifying possibilities. Thank you.
Martha
brightness and lightness in a spinning crazy world
“What will ‘they’ think of next!”. Quote, unquote.
I smashed my crystal ball. It felt real good (sigh), but now my circadian rhythm has tripped and I’m in the dark.
Your playfulness with words, sounds, repetitions and rhymes is in chilling contrast to the implications of AI.