Technolandy

Day 57 (of 2024/25) we’ll, one of my favourite books as a young reader was “My Robot Buddy”

https://www.businessinsider.com/eric-schmidt-ex-google-ceo-ai-book-kissinger-white-stork-2024-11

One of the new wonders… how will AI influence … ‘us’. Google CEO thinking that, ‘ready or not’, it already is.  At the same time a colleague shared a concern about Poly.AI. A tool (although it may also be the tool similarly named polyai.ai) that might… download too many bots onto a device… and can turn rather … risqué… very quickly… or as the website says: “immersive role play experiences”. AI conversations can go on many directions…

A tricky balance as some AIs are starting to be pretty good at getting discussions going… Pi.AI had me intrigued! But character.ai is being sued for leading to self-harm… https://www.nbcnews.com/tech/characterai-lawsuit-florida-teen-death-rcna176791

I regularly point out, when people ask why someone would turn to screens and AI, that I believe strongly on what Johann Hari points out – when people can’t find community and belonging in real life… the urge is great enough to lead them to the virtual space… and perhaps because of some of the books I read… I’m not opposed to the idea if using a virtual friend from time to time as appropriate…

The idea of a ‘personalized AI’ has long been ‘interesting’ from the malevolent HAL in the movie 2001 to a favourite of mine as a young reader – My Robot Buddy. A friend/sibling you’d never fight with… a 1970s view of the future… enjoyable and debatable if it’s a utopia or dystopia ~ as media/books like Brave New World can be interpreted to both extremes… soma to help with anxiety/depression… AI to help with loneliness and connection… 

I wonder if our early experiences in literature set a tone for our expectations of the future… and our reactions to the uptake in AI as a… tool? Distraction? Ally? Interloper? Fad? I guess it also depends on what it takes you to evolve from Artificial to some other descriptor of intelligence. 

So yes, decades later, the thought of having a robot buddy still feels tempting at times… maybe that’s why I’m mote comfortable with this early form of our future robot overlords than others! 😇😜- other favourites you’ve likely not heard of: Jacob Two-Two meets the Hooded Fang, Oranges & UFOs, Hooples on the Highway. Loved library random choices from the bookshelf for silent reading opportunities