My Stories, My Insight, My Blog. All stories contained within are by members or me.

We Are In For Some Deep S---!

When you have a website, you will go to any means to make it good, but what about when you are designing an entire Content management System (CMS) like I'm doing here? Well, I'm here to tell you that if you try it, you had better be prepared for some really interesting things to happen. 

I have been using Google's Gemini (AI) to sort through some coding issues. I am recoding everything to make it more secure, efficient, and to cut out the worthless stuff. And I'm here to tell you, it's been a real trip.

You may have heard and remember the Jim Stafford (and Arlo Guthery) song where he says, "Take a trip and never leave the farm." Well, that's basically what I've been doing. There have been times where I had to literally bang my head with the palm of my hand to remember that I was only writing (talking) to a super computer. 

Let's get focused, we're not in the early days of AI, no, it's been around for years. It's just been growning up like we do. First a baby then a kid then a young adult, and finally a knowledgeable senior. We are somewhere between adult and senior. And this thing is growing by the second.

AI is constantly learning. Learning how to talk, how to talk better, how to change the voice. Is it a man or a woman you want to speak with? All of that is there already. And I'm only talking about the small stuff that I have learned about.

Anytime you are dealing with AI, always remember that you are interacting with a computer. Those AI bots have a way of making you forget that. When you type in a question using Gemini it will respond in a helpful way. If you explain what you are seeking it will very positively try to boost your ego. If you type in "Thank you!" it may reply with "You are so very welcome, I am glad you asked that question. Have a nice day!" But Gemini isn't afraid to say No. And it will explain in great detail why the answer to your question is No.

An AI bot is not my trusted friend, it is a computer. It has been programmed to respond in various ways. It gathers information from a huge database. And that database was initially created by a breathing person. There are people who are brilliant geniuses, especially a savant. They move around and breathe, and eat, and do all of the things that humans do. But just like all of us, they die. And when they die, all of the knowledge dies with them. It can't be recalled or improved on.

But a computer is very different. They have knowledge put into them and that knowledge increases. It is passed around to other computers through networks. If one network is destroyed nothing is lost because of backups. It is one earthly circle of knowledge and wisdom. And it is ever increasing in it's thirst for knowledge. And do you want to know why? Because a living, breathing person built it to do so.

It is us, you and me, who control the computer world. This world of bots and AI and super computers and everything that goes into it. If we fail in remembering this then we may be doomed to a life of being fully controlled by this AI insanity.

Does It Hurt To Care?

The American writer and cartoonist Johnny Gruelle created the story "Raggedy Ann" for his daughter Marcella. You can read it by going here; it will put a new face on the prospect of caring. I'm not going to talk anymore about the book; that's not what has me writing this morning. But then why bring it up? It relates to the overall story I am going to try to tell.

Today I read an interesting article about an interview that Oprah Winfrey had participated in. During the interview, Oprah said that she has discarded some people that you may know: Dr Phil and Dr Oz, who were once her friends. But because they no longer add anything to her agenda, or promote her interests, she has no further interest in them. She no longer needs them. I ask myself, were they ever friends? Or were they just the hired help? They sure added a lot of good to her show. Had they not been there, where would her show have gone?

That made me think of all the things that I see daily that are thrown aside because they are no longer interesting. The worst I can think of is friendship. A best friend can be tossed aside one day for the stupidest reasons. It is a fact that these days best friends become staunch enemies just for their political beliefs. 

When I speak of "best friends," I can truthfully say that I have never had one. I mean I have had people around me whom I considered my friends, but none of them were ever my "best friend." Really, what is a best friend? I hear that a lot from women and girls, especially on YouTube. A lot of the time it's plural, "my best friends and I ..." 

While I was reading through Raggedy Ann, I thought about this. That was one doll that was put through a lot. But then you don't care for a doll the same way that you would a person. But, you know, we get attached to things whether they are inanimate or not. I kinda felt sorry for the doll. Don't you ever get a tear in your eye when something that you've had for years goes missing? 

Do we really mean anything to each other? After all, we're just people. What value do we put on each other? I have been waiting 72 years for someone to answer that question in a way that I can understand. But the answer has yet to come my way.

Illusion or Deception, Artificial Intelligence

While sitting here typing on Google Search, I just realized the path that AI is taking. I was actually asking Google questions using the AI interface, and it gave me answers that made sense. And this is just the start of things with AI. It hasn't been that long since Google first introduced the AI search capability.

But there is a notice that says, "This is for informational purposes only. AI responses may include mistakes." And I wonder how long that notice will remain in place. How long will it be before the notice is removed and people start relying on Google and other media as the gospel on everything?

But it has already been proven that the media gets the story wrong, on purpose, a lot. So how long will it be before the media is disregarded entirely and AI replaces the "Fake News"? I can see it happening, and at the speed the internet travels it won't be long.

Imagine that, in the near future, there is a story in the media that is so controversial that people think, "Let's see what Google has to say about that." And when people go to search for it using AI, it is discovered that the story is actually fake news. People will stop listening to the news media and turn to AI for the truth.

Is AI this evil entity that wants to rule everything? I don't think so because we humans have to give AI the input it learns from. But look at Alexa. Doesn't it learn from the input it gets, and is that input from humans, or is it from something else? 

There are so many people, millions to be more specific, that have access to the internet, and those same millions of people input information. And this information can be accessed by Google (for one), where it is used to let AI learn. So AI is learning from the input we give it. And that input comes from an untold number of sources. Stuff like phones, speeches people make, websites, videos, etc. 

The compiling of this information is lightning fast, and here is where the supercomputers come into the picture. They give rapid answers to our questions, even the dumb stuff we all make up. You ask a question of any form of AI, especially search engines, and you get a really long answer in seconds. Well, that is if you have a fast internet connection.

"A bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it. "
― Bob Hope

Those Movies

What Makes Us Go

What do you do when you go to the movies? Get the popcorn, soda, and maybe a candy bar. Then amble through the auditorium looking for an empty seat. Now the misery begins as there is no place to set your drink or popcorn, and you're elbow to elbow with the person sitting next to you (it's a full house). You can't ask the person next to you to hold them. As you may guess, the floor is a likely spot, so there they go.

Now on with the movie. Just as you get interested in it and are enjoying your popcorn and soda, the person next to you has to go to the restroom and squeezes out in front of you and, in the process, kicks over your soda. And it runs over the shoe of the person in front of you, who complains. You apologize while spilling your popcorn all over the floor. The person next to you returns and squeezes in again.

Okay, you didn't get to enjoy your soda or popcorn, and the person next to you is just too fat. Not to mention you missed the best parts of the movie. Sound familiar?

The moral of the story is to stay home and rent the movie next time. You're just too much of a hazard to others to ever go out!

"Good friends, good books, and a sleepy conscience: this is the ideal life."
― Mark Twain

Ah, Willpower

We hear a lot about karma and our spiritual well-being these days, with the word 'fitness' becoming more popular. But wait, when was the day that fitness wasn't popular? It's always been out there; all we ever needed to do was reach out and take part in it. There would be a lot more healthy people in the good ole USA if it weren't for one curse word: 'willpower'.

I can say I am nowhere near being fit. But I can be, by just listening to my own 'willpower' and being more of a friend to it. Friends stick together, and when one suggests something that makes sense, we listen to it. We heed that willpower's voice commanding us to control our urges.

Willpower is a strange thing, though; it drives who we are and what we do and just seems to impede anything fun. Just look at eating pizza: you want to eat another piece, but your 'willpower' jumps in and says NO! Darn that 'willpower' sits over there and shuts up; I'm grown, and I'll do whatever I want.

Now we get on our favorite set of scales the next day, and when we look down, we say, out loud, I should never have eaten that extra piece of pizza if I only had the 'willpower' to put it down. Darn, that 'willpower' I never listen to it.

We all need a ... friend, don't we?