…it’s such a disease…we dehumanize each other every day with passion, acceptance, duty to our leadership, fault of creativity, and/or some i’d call dark myriad…no one should have to prove they are human, valuable as a human, real, really good, etc. to the dream of their own extinction…it can only get sunnier in philadelphia…and then the sun will do the rest…
Agreed, CansaFis. We need to protect our flesh and blood ... our very humanity ... from the tech onslaught. Granted, the benefits of high tech are many, so we're talking about a double-edged sword here, but I'm a bit concerned about our future and AI. As they say: "More to be revealed..."
I was still trying to somehow pretend that THiS wasn’t already reality…and imagining what awaits today’s youth (as well as everyone else ofc) scares off my pants.
"[I got] ripped open by computer code that had mined my data and used it against me.” Yup, we’ve arrived in dystopia.
Larry, what a terrific ride. I started this several days ago and wasn’t able to finish. I came back to it and started anew, and the ride you took me on was even better the second time.
What a bizarre experience and I just loved the choices you made when discovering yourself in the circumstance. Even better was the tale you crafted around it!
“And I kept thinking of this line - “However, that notion didn’t explain the gnawing ache in the pit of my stomach, my flushed face or my shaking hands, my body’s unconscious reaction to having been eviscerated, ripped open by computer code that had mined my data and used it against me.”
My first reply, which I made this morning, seems to have been swallowed up by the Digital Gods. So: I appreciate your feedback and support! The experience was, at the time, frustrating and somewhat horrific. It only became "grist for the humor mill" well after the fact. (Old saying: "Comedy is tragedy + time...")
And, yes, I did feel somewhat violated ... either by the AI bot mining my resume and LinkedIn profile, or *BY* my resume and LinkedIn profile.
By the way, I copied and pasted the entire essay into ChatGPT with the following prompt: "What do you think?"
The response brief: "Be afraid ... Be VERY afraid..." (Okay. I made that up.) Again, thank you for your kind support!
Bob, the bot who interviewed me sounded kinda sexy. I'm sorry I didn't ask her, "What are you wearing??"
Seriously, AI has extraordinary potential. My technophobic tendencies (and wholesale ignorance of all that is AI) obviously colored my take on what happened. I'm just concerned about what AI will do to creative thinkers, and their work, of every stripe. More to be revealed ... and thanks for reading my sordid tale of woe.
This is hysterical and horrifying. Which is a pretty good title. You might make this a series. Seek out opportunities to engage with AI and see if you can unnerve it as much as it unnerves us.
My wife refuses to give her order to the Taco Bell AI, which in her defense, talks aggressively loud. It also has a bloodless tone. Nobody should say "chalupa" with the voice of a corporate attorney.
"Hysterical and horrifying" pretty much covers all bases, Norm.
About the ongoing AI series idea: The first draft of this essay included a back-and-forth dialogue with the bot that I *wished*would've happened but didn't. In this "hypothetical extension" of the job interview, I screwed with the bot in the same way I used to mess with telemarketers, with one goal: get *them* to hang up on *me*. But that early version was too "out there," even for folks of our twisted ilk.
≈ ≈ ≈
Spontaneous recommendation for sick minds, unrelated to the whole AI thing: Google "John Callahan cartoonist" and check out the images. If you haven't sampled this sick bastard's work, you're in for a few giggles.
A machine replacing the brain? Never. I still remember that computer voice in "2001: A Space Odyssey." But I mostly remember it taking over. A superb take, Larry, from a human about, really humanity as we now live it.
This was such an enjoyable read from start to finish. I laughed out loud more than once! Plus, I learned the origin of the term Luddites. Thanks for another great essay!
And a friendly reminder: You expand the the vase story into a full-on post, and I'll write the story about my grandfather's gift, one I squandered. Deal??
I was onboard from the very beginning and along for the ride. Once your mouth began actually speaking what your brain was thinking, I was openly laughing out loud and continued to do so until the end. Hysterical and relatable!!
Larry, please go do a follow up where you prep for fun. Before you even log in, you maximize for entertainment and laughs, job be damned. That would make for a very fun sequel. And to think, it might be what lands you the job. Human reads the transcripts before the final decision is made? Crazier things have happened. Never know when your humanity will shine through.
Years ago, I actually thought of a story (novel? screenplay?) that focused on a job-search club. The ONLY purpose of the club was for all the members to screw with the job interviewer(s) and have as much fun as possible. Put your cowboy boots up on the hiring manager's desk? Check. Wear a wetsuit to the interview? Check. Answer every single question in Pig Latin? Check.
The original version of the essay you just read ended where I turn the tables and inundate the bot with a series of silly, rapid-fire questions with one goal: Make the bot blow a fuse and "hang up" on me, the way I used to get telemarketers to do the same. That early version was so over the top, a trusted friend urged me to not go there. (Translated: It was weird, even for me...)
Epic. Off the chart hilarious yet a sci fi horror movie nicely rolled into one. Your ability to see a thing inside and out, find the outrage, shock, pain, irony and humor in it is staggering.
Btw, I caught something else. “I thought of happier times, scaling Mt Everest.”
That says a lot about what our technology is putting us through.
Did you get the job?
No. And I wasn't exactly shocked ...
:)
AI doesn't have a sense of humor or else you would have gotten the job. Their lose. Nor doers it have intuition.
The day AI gets intuition could be the beginning of the end ...
Not very optimistic ... and I hope that never happens.
…it’s such a disease…we dehumanize each other every day with passion, acceptance, duty to our leadership, fault of creativity, and/or some i’d call dark myriad…no one should have to prove they are human, valuable as a human, real, really good, etc. to the dream of their own extinction…it can only get sunnier in philadelphia…and then the sun will do the rest…
Agreed, CansaFis. We need to protect our flesh and blood ... our very humanity ... from the tech onslaught. Granted, the benefits of high tech are many, so we're talking about a double-edged sword here, but I'm a bit concerned about our future and AI. As they say: "More to be revealed..."
* The way you capture that sweaty, flustered human behind the screen versus the cool, detached bot is pitch-perfect.
Thanks, Matthew. (By the way, I didn't get the job. Shocking, right??)
Read it to the whole family and they all laughed out loud. Thought you'd want to know the effect your authentic intelligence is having.
I gotta come clean, Rick. I ran a few rough notes through ChatGPT, and this is what it came up with. (Sorry ... couldn't resist.)
Seriously, thank you for your support!
I was still trying to somehow pretend that THiS wasn’t already reality…and imagining what awaits today’s youth (as well as everyone else ofc) scares off my pants.
"[I got] ripped open by computer code that had mined my data and used it against me.” Yup, we’ve arrived in dystopia.
Agreed! 👍🏻
Larry, what a terrific ride. I started this several days ago and wasn’t able to finish. I came back to it and started anew, and the ride you took me on was even better the second time.
What a bizarre experience and I just loved the choices you made when discovering yourself in the circumstance. Even better was the tale you crafted around it!
“And I kept thinking of this line - “However, that notion didn’t explain the gnawing ache in the pit of my stomach, my flushed face or my shaking hands, my body’s unconscious reaction to having been eviscerated, ripped open by computer code that had mined my data and used it against me.”
Argh!!!
Thank you, James.
My first reply, which I made this morning, seems to have been swallowed up by the Digital Gods. So: I appreciate your feedback and support! The experience was, at the time, frustrating and somewhat horrific. It only became "grist for the humor mill" well after the fact. (Old saying: "Comedy is tragedy + time...")
And, yes, I did feel somewhat violated ... either by the AI bot mining my resume and LinkedIn profile, or *BY* my resume and LinkedIn profile.
By the way, I copied and pasted the entire essay into ChatGPT with the following prompt: "What do you think?"
The response brief: "Be afraid ... Be VERY afraid..." (Okay. I made that up.) Again, thank you for your kind support!
I hate the idea of AI interviews, but many human-given interviews are worse: arrive late, full of biases, talk more about themselves, etc.
Bob, the bot who interviewed me sounded kinda sexy. I'm sorry I didn't ask her, "What are you wearing??"
Seriously, AI has extraordinary potential. My technophobic tendencies (and wholesale ignorance of all that is AI) obviously colored my take on what happened. I'm just concerned about what AI will do to creative thinkers, and their work, of every stripe. More to be revealed ... and thanks for reading my sordid tale of woe.
Thanks for taking this experiment for the team :). Now we know!
This is hysterical and horrifying. Which is a pretty good title. You might make this a series. Seek out opportunities to engage with AI and see if you can unnerve it as much as it unnerves us.
My wife refuses to give her order to the Taco Bell AI, which in her defense, talks aggressively loud. It also has a bloodless tone. Nobody should say "chalupa" with the voice of a corporate attorney.
"Hysterical and horrifying" pretty much covers all bases, Norm.
About the ongoing AI series idea: The first draft of this essay included a back-and-forth dialogue with the bot that I *wished*would've happened but didn't. In this "hypothetical extension" of the job interview, I screwed with the bot in the same way I used to mess with telemarketers, with one goal: get *them* to hang up on *me*. But that early version was too "out there," even for folks of our twisted ilk.
≈ ≈ ≈
Spontaneous recommendation for sick minds, unrelated to the whole AI thing: Google "John Callahan cartoonist" and check out the images. If you haven't sampled this sick bastard's work, you're in for a few giggles.
A machine replacing the brain? Never. I still remember that computer voice in "2001: A Space Odyssey." But I mostly remember it taking over. A superb take, Larry, from a human about, really humanity as we now live it.
Thanks, Craig.
"2001" was prophetic, yes? I'd love to see that again. Will check on Netflix.
This was such an enjoyable read from start to finish. I laughed out loud more than once! Plus, I learned the origin of the term Luddites. Thanks for another great essay!
Thanks, Rachel.
Any "LOL feedback" tossed in my orbit tells me that I'm doing something right! Much appreciated. :)
Thought provoking and funny.... a rare combo these days. Nicely done!
Thank you, Chris.
And a friendly reminder: You expand the the vase story into a full-on post, and I'll write the story about my grandfather's gift, one I squandered. Deal??
This left me deeply disturbed and amused.
Need to make sure all future robots get a body so there is somewhere to aim the hammer.
Thanks, Marie.
And I believe you just came up with a great TV game show idea: "Smash the bot!" (Please trademark that before *I* do!)
If I recall correctly, Spielberg’s A.I. from 2001 has some harrowing robot destruction scenes.
I’ll have to watch that again.
I was onboard from the very beginning and along for the ride. Once your mouth began actually speaking what your brain was thinking, I was openly laughing out loud and continued to do so until the end. Hysterical and relatable!!
Thanks, Flori. It wasn't a barrel of laughs at the time, but, as the saying goes: "Comedy is tragedy + time." I appreciate your ongoing support!
Larry, please go do a follow up where you prep for fun. Before you even log in, you maximize for entertainment and laughs, job be damned. That would make for a very fun sequel. And to think, it might be what lands you the job. Human reads the transcripts before the final decision is made? Crazier things have happened. Never know when your humanity will shine through.
Thank you, Matt.
Years ago, I actually thought of a story (novel? screenplay?) that focused on a job-search club. The ONLY purpose of the club was for all the members to screw with the job interviewer(s) and have as much fun as possible. Put your cowboy boots up on the hiring manager's desk? Check. Wear a wetsuit to the interview? Check. Answer every single question in Pig Latin? Check.
The original version of the essay you just read ended where I turn the tables and inundate the bot with a series of silly, rapid-fire questions with one goal: Make the bot blow a fuse and "hang up" on me, the way I used to get telemarketers to do the same. That early version was so over the top, a trusted friend urged me to not go there. (Translated: It was weird, even for me...)
Epic. Off the chart hilarious yet a sci fi horror movie nicely rolled into one. Your ability to see a thing inside and out, find the outrage, shock, pain, irony and humor in it is staggering.
Btw, I caught something else. “I thought of happier times, scaling Mt Everest.”
That says a lot about what our technology is putting us through.
Thank you, Kathy. To slightly twist the old saying: "Flattery will get you everywhere!"
I think we're both learning (the hard way, kicking and screaming) that the more we delve into deep wounds, the richer our recollection of life.
Let's keep digging. Always fun? HELL no. Worth the effort? Fuck yeah...
100% yes.
Loved the ball-peen hammer reference. A portable flame thrower by my side would be comforting.
Understood.
During the bot interview, I honestly wanted to pummel my *own* laptop.