Hayter for June 18,
2023 
Artificial Intelligence
Before I start with today’s topic, I need to take a moment to apologize to all of the people I’ve thought ill of over the years. I didn’t say anything about you, I merely thought it, which is so much better.
Without drawing this out any further, let me say that I am sorry for thinking of you as a jerk for keeping your blinker light on during a 20-mile drive through the town.
The only reason I bring it up is that Kay has reminded me of the few times I’ve neglected to turn off my blinker light. One can only imagine how long the light stays on when I’m driving alone. I would turn the blinking light off if I could hear the blinking thing!
I’ve learned that failure to turn off one’s turn indicator is due to the blinking sound losing its volume over the years. We drive a 2002 Highlander that makes more noise when I raise the windows than it does when I make a turn. Bottom line, I’m sorry for thinking that some of you you have been leaving your blinker lights on just to annoy me.
With that out of the way, let me jump into today’s topic, which is loosely related to turning signals. -- An advertisement popped up on YouTube yesterday that reminded me to pay for the YouTube no-commercial deal. It also forced me to listen to a guy wearing a suit, standing a mere foot away from downtown New York Traffic.
The ad-man mentioned how Elon Musk invested a trainload of money in the greatest concept ever devised by man or machine. Musk had already earned enough money to buy the State of Oklahoma. That was a deal-killer for me, but I was anxious to hear what he had to say before a cab hit him.
The man finally shucked down the corn and mentioned the most valuable concept to date is the advances made in Artificial Intelligence. AI was first conceived in 1951 by a guy who created a machine that could play checkers. He intended to create the first atomic but that had been done six years prior.
After checkers, a few scientists came up with a computer that could play chess. The first model was great, but a few Grand Masters managed to beat it. But in a couple of years, it was improved to the point where no human has yet to beat it. A one-armed orangutan came close, but only because it made some really bizarre moves, causing the computer to overthink. It seems like I read that somewhere.
Orangutan aside, in Jason Bourne movies, the governments of different countries set up cameras in cities all over the place. Somehow or other, the computers have collected pictures of a billion different people whose facial features have been downloaded so the individual can be identified. Such a device requires a boatload of data, depending on how many people you want to keep an eye on. Soon, schools will likely install such devices.
But let’s forget other people, the
thing that will hurt me personally is the recent innovation that allows
computer programs to write books, articles, essays, recipes, jokes, movie
scripts, and whatever artificial thought is print-worthy. English teachers used
to refer to “creative writing”, whereby the students develop a story around
characters and situations that they invented
If you’ve got the appropriate computer you can now describe a few characters, locations, general situations, and the length you’d like your story to be, and the computer will write it for you.
That reminds me of the ongoing writers’ strike against movie and TV production companies for the ridiculously low pay they’ve been giving their writers. The strike started in the U.S. on May 2 and is now spread over most countries that have companies that have TV and movie producers. The production companies in the U.S. are standing firm on their refusal to pay writers for their talent,
The producers feel less pressure from the strike, thinking that AI will soon be doing the writing for them. AI technology is fast and it doesn’t mind working 24 hours a day. It will take a bit of refining, but in a year or so it will be possible to make new John Wayne movies, by placing a video of Wayne’s face over an actor or actress playing the role of Big John. The actor doesn’t have to have Wayne’s physique, but, he or she will have to act while wearing a green shirt and leotards with tiny white balls stuck all over ‘em. The AI John Wayne with words never spoken by the actor.
And where is all of this leading? The guy standing in downtown New York traffic suggested I buy stock in three to five of some of the new AI companies. As more and more AI innovations come along there will be less need for schools. No schools will mean fewer sporting events, less need for marching bands, and school plays. Less need for daycare, because 80 percent of all the labor will be accomplished by computer-guided machines. Computers that can devise their own product inspections.
Did anybody see the “Matrix” series, with Keanu Reeves? Anybody? Hokey smokes! unless some morally minded computers come along, we’re done for.
Well, most of you are in deep doo. I won’t even live to I’ll live to be able to afford a car with a blinker light that has a volume knob. – That’s it. Time o for somebody to purchase some AI stock. Who knows, in 2024 you may be able to buy a county in Oklahoma. I recommend “Texas County”, located in the panhandle between “Cimmaron” and “Beaver”. You can probably get the best price during the summer.
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