A few months ago, an upstart A.I. service calling itself "Friend" launched an expansive and expensive campaign across the New York subway network; apparently the largest single marketing campaign ever undertaken in the New York transit system. Friend is an A.I. "companion" that has been designed to hang around your neck like a pendant. Its generative A.I. listens to everything you have to say throughout the day (or until its battery runs down, presumably) and communicates with you via text messages sent to your phone. It is expressly intended to be your constant travelling companion, confidant and, well... friend (for $129 plus tax). If the thought of an A.I ChatBot perched on your shoulder constantly whispering its opinions in your ear about the life you lead sends a cold chill down your spine, you are not alone. The advertising campaign provoked a swift and emotional response from New York's commuters. Friend might be a bit more attention-seeking than most, b...
Hi there. Are you happy with your life? I'm not asking this out of reflexive courtesy; I'm asking a literal question. Are you happy with the life in which you currently find yourself? This is your actual life after all; you may or not get another one (opinions diverge on that point). Does it bring you pleasure? Are you satisfied with the kind of person you are? When you look at yourself in the mirror, is the person staring back at you a friend of yours, or is it someone you wish would just... go away? Are you doing something that brings you happiness? When you look ahead to the rest of your life stretching before you, do you like what you see, or do you wish things were different? Are there people in your immediate circle who enrich your life, or do they make you miserable? Can you be yourself when you're in the presence of others, or do you feel like you're wearing a disguise all the time? Think about all that for a bit and get back to me. Now, here's a related q...
Consider Hamlet . I'm sure you remember Hamlet. Gloomy guy. Wears black a lot. Talks to himself. Likes to hang out in cemeteries. Now, imagine for a moment that you are Hamlet. You are the Prince of Denmark (congratulations!) and heir to the throne. While you're off at University doing the "student" thing, you receive word that your beloved father (the King) is dead; murdered, it turns out, by your horrible Uncle, who then promptly marries your mother (eww) and usurps the throne, snatching it away from you before you even have a chance to catch the next train home. Your father's ghost (who is, you learn, burning endlessly in some harrowing Purgatory, suffering torments beyond imagining) confirms all this, and urges you to take revenge on his behalf. You're not really the right guy for this sort of thing; you're more the academic type. Revenge isn't your natural style; your first instinct would probably be to write an essay at them or something... bu...
"I tried to write poetry in College. You know what it got me? Night after night, sitting in front of that little portable typewriter, staring at the twenty-six letters of the alphabet. Just staring, hours at a time. And I told myself, if I only knew the order; the right pecking order in which to hit those twenty-six keys, I could write the poem that could shame Shakespeare. But I could never quantify that ridiculous, simple, twenty-six-digit code." Kurt Vonnegut's Epicac , adapted for television by Liam O'Brien Every single idea ever expressed in English (some assembly required) "Artificial Intelligence" might not be the most frightening topic in the news these days (it's up against some pretty stiff competition after all) but it is a topic that seems to be prompting an awful lot of existential questions about the human condition at the moment. Nestled amongst all the apocalyptic stories about mass murder, human rights abuses, political violence, enviro...
In case you hadn't noticed by now, Noir of the 1950s found itself increasingly obsessed with "law-enforcement" types (Detectives, transit cops, postal inspectors) sometimes to the point of absurdity. Last week's Appointment With Danger most definitely lives at the "absurd" end of the spectrum (with its bebop-loving floozy and its vaguely supercilious Nun) but it still reflects the mindset of the era; an era in which Law Enforcement was becoming increasingly unfettered in its zeal to eliminate undesirable elements of American society. Alan Ladd's intrepid postal inspector isn't a noir protagonist so much as a comic book superhero , battling evil and smashing in heads wherever there is Foul Play going on. We never have to fear for his safety, because he has Truth and Justice on his side (and a Nun to be his conscience!). Criminals, bank robbers and international Communists have no hope against this type of justice warrior. Beware, Evil-doers... wher...
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