Love, Life & Legacy 2

is now out and available.

Three new short stories, each 10K words and about 55 minutes reading time.

The Forger As the world panics about AI generated art, Tom, Jack and Julie use human creativity to execute the ultimate art scam. But in a world of security and validation tech, can they pull it off?

The Ministry of Major Concerns Climate change, cyber security, immigration, loneliness, digital addiction: what’s to be done? Lillie at The Ministry of Major Concerns believes she has the solution. But it’s bold. Very bold.

Totally, Totally, Global Inc. A Day in The Life at a major tech company where nothing is real, everything is a protected TLA and only The Caretaker knows what is truly going on.

Actually, It’s Human Intelligence We Need to Worry About

“Like, it’s incredible. I typed in ‘best coffee shop near me’ and suddenly I had a route map to this local artisan coffee shop and my AI buddy had reserved a seat at the window and already ordered my dry added vit D mocha. But that’s trivial. It can help you learn a language and literally it sends me a Mandarin word each day. That’s literally with word phonetics and brushstrokes. I mean, I’d worry about my job but I’ve just graduated and I’m just thinking about it at the moment.”

“Oh my God, literally same. Like, I asked it to write my CV and it was like… chef’s kiss… literally perfect? And then I was like, ‘can you apply for jobs for me?’ and it basically did? I mean, I still have to, like, press send or whatever, but it’s literally doing everything. Game changer.”

“Right? But also, like, it’s kind of scary? Because my friend’s cousin’s boyfriend said that AI is literally going to take over the world in, like, five years? Or maybe ten? But also it can’t even, like, understand sarcasm properly, so…”

“Wait, can it though? Because I was literally being sarcastic with mine yesterday and it totally got it. I think. Or maybe it was just, like, coincidence? I don’t know. But it wrote me this whole thing about, like, quantum physics or whatever, and I was like, ‘I literally don’t understand any of this,’ and it made it simpler. Which is literally incredible.”

“See, that’s what I’m saying! It’s like having a personal assistant but it’s literally free? Well, I mean, I pay for Premium but that’s because I need the extra tokens. Whatever tokens are. But basically free.”

“My dad keeps saying AI is just, like, a calculator that sounds confident, but I’m like, Dad, it literally wrote me a sonnet about my cat. A calculator can’t do that. He’s literally from the wrong generation to understand.”

“Totally. Like, older people just don’t get it. My manager at work literally prints out his emails. Prints them out. And I’m like, ‘Have you heard of AI?’ and he’s like, ‘I don’t trust it,’ and I’m like, ‘Okay boomer, enjoy your paper.’ I mean, I didn’t actually say that because he’s my manager, but I literally thought it really loudly.”

“Oh God, my mum’s the same. She thinks AI is literally reading her thoughts because she Googled ‘knee pain’ and then got ads for knee braces. And I’m like, ‘Mum, that’s not AI, that’s just cookies,’ and she’s like, ‘What have cookies got to do with it?’ It’s literally exhausting explaining technology.”

“But like, it IS kind of creepy though? Because I was literally just thinking about ordering pizza and then my phone was like, ‘Pizza deals near you,’ and I’m like… how did it know? I didn’t even say anything. So maybe your mum has a point? Or maybe I accidentally said it out loud. I don’t know. It’s literally confusing.”

“The thing is, right, it’s going to solve literally everything. Like climate change? AI’s got it. Cancer? AI’s working on it. My relationship problems? AI literally gave me better advice than my therapist. I mean, I still see my therapist because, like, mental health, but the AI was literally more helpful about the thing with Jake.”

“Wait, you told AI about Jake? Isn’t that, like, private?”

“Well yeah, but it’s not like it’s a person person. It’s literally just code. It’s not going to gossip. Although I did ask it to write a passive-aggressive text to Jake and it was literally perfect. Like, it captured my exact tone. Which is either genius or terrifying. I haven’t decided.”

“See, this is what I mean about it being scary. Because like, what if it knows us better than we know ourselves? My AI literally predicted I’d be hungry at 3pm yesterday and suggested I order from that Thai place. And I was literally just about to do that anyway. So either it’s incredibly smart or I’m incredibly predictable.”

“You’re incredibly predictable. You literally eat Thai food every Tuesday.”

“Okay but I didn’t tell the AI that.”

“It probably, like, analysed your patterns or whatever. That’s literally what it does. It’s like… machine learning? I think that’s the term? Or is that blockchain? I always get them confused.”

“Blockchain is the crypto thing.”

“Right, right. But they’re both, like, algorithmic? I watched this YouTube video about it. Well, I watched half of it. The guy’s voice was literally so monotone.”

“The thing that literally blows my mind is that it can create art now. Like, I typed ‘sunset over mountains in the style of Van Gogh’ and it literally made this incredible painting in, like, three seconds. My friend who went to art school for four years was literally so offended.”

“Oh my God, I saw that debate online! Artists are literally so mad about AI art. But I’m like, it’s just a tool? Like, photographers didn’t put painters out of business. It’s literally the same thing.”

“Is it though? Because the AI literally trains on actual artists' work without permission. So it’s like… stealing? But also not stealing because it’s transformative? I don’t know…..

Paris

Maybe five years ago I was in the beautiful Sorbonne area of Paris. It was this time of year, there were a few students around between lectures but otherwise it was beautiful autumn sunshine and quiet. I came across a cafe, Jozi. Great coffee. And as I paid I bought a couple of their mugs.

Maybe four years ago, I dropped one of them.

Maybe a year ago I was back in Paris and as always visited the Sorbonne area: it is so lovely. And it struck me, how about a coffee and maybe a replacement mug?

The cafe was much the same: wonderful service, coffee and pastries.

At the till, the cashier was chatty and I explained the background to my new mug purchase. He said in that case it’s free. I said, that’s very kind of you. He said, just spread the word.

I do.

Artificial

Let’s explore that word a little.

Artificial in artificial intelligence means made by humans rather than occurring naturally; but the word carries more nuance than that simple definition suggests.

What’s the straightforward meaning?

Artificial comes from the Latin artificium (craft, skill) and ars (art). It originally meant ‘made by human skill’ as opposed to naturally occurring. So artificial intelligence is intelligence created through engineering and programming rather than evolved through biology.

Of course there is now a complication in that the word ‘artificial’ often carries connotations of ‘ fake’ or ‘imitation’, think of artificial flowers or artificial sweetener. This creates confusion: does AI simulate intelligence (appearing intelligent without actually being so), or is it genuinely intelligent but simply manufactured rather than biological?

And so we have a tension:

An artificial heart pumps blood; it’s artificial in origin but performs a real function. An artificial diamond is chemically identical to a natural one; artificial only means man-made. But artificial grass doesn’t photosynthesise; it merely looks like grass.

When we say ‘artificial intelligence’, are we claiming:

It’s real intelligence, just manufactured (like the artificial heart)? It’s apparent intelligence, not genuine (like artificial grass)? It’s something else entirely that we’ve awkwardly labeled ‘intelligence’ because we lack better terminology? And frankly it’s great for click-bait articles and Frankenstein Plus futures?

Perhaps the word ‘artificial’ reveals our uncertainty about what AI actually is and whether intelligence can be separated from its biological substrate? We chose a word that’s conveniently ambiguous. We certainly need to do what we are excellent at when willing: ask many, many probing questions to understand who our future ubiquitous partner in life, really is.