Month: July 2023

All our actions, interests, friendships and thoughts
Are being monitored
In ways that remain invisible to us.

Governments, Companies and Employers
Are using information from our
Computers and Cell Phones
To capture data about their owners
So that we can be analyzed

Through our search queries
Through our online contacts
Through our credit card transaction
Through our social media posts and
Through our location data.

Our behavior and patterns are
Carefully examined by computer systems until
We are assigned numbers
That follow us

To our employment
When A.I. helps choose job applicants

To our taxes
When the IRS decides who to audit

To traffic stops
When we are pulled over

To our vacations
When TSA chooses who to search

To our partners
When Eharmony recommends who to date

To our purchases
When search engines decide how to advertise

To our education
When college admissions are automated

Billions of dollars have been spent
Designing a system that operates
Under the pretense that the
Human experience can be fairly measured
And augmented using technology.

A system that discards
And mismeasures
What makes us truly human.

Can love be measured on a yardstick?
Can passion be assigned a number?
Can art be quantified?
Can kindness be calculated?

We have found ourselves living
In a world

Where
Numbers have replaced God

Where
Equations have replaced destiny

Where
Facebook has replaced friendship

Where
Video games have replaced love

Where
Virtual Reality has replaced nature

Where
Cell Phones have replaced human interaction

Our reality is being replaced
With a pixelated version of
A false utopia

Humanity is drifting off into
Uncharted territory with only
Our computerized GPS navigators
To lead us

There is no precedent for today.

We are living in a grand experiment.

The founding fathers did not have
ChatGPT to write the constitution for them

The disciples did not have
Social Media to preach with

Shakespeare
Did not use A.I. to write
Romeo and Juliet

And yet that is the future we may soon find
Ourselves living in

Where our future politicians
Are elected through social media hacks

Where our future writers
Are A.I. language models

Where our future God
Is a Bored Ape NFT on a Yacht

Our destinies are being determined
By software developers
From M.I.T. and Harvard
Who care little for the idea of
“Free Will”
Because it can not easily
Be measured.

They care little for the idea of
Love, spirit and soul because
There is no proof

There is only what can
Be seen and calculated
And it is the incalculable
It is the indecipherable
It is the intangible
That makes us most human

At the turn of the 22nd century the American economy was experiencing its worst depression since the 1930’s and the ruling class and government conceived of ways to stimulate the American economy and insure wealth and prosperity for all. American productivity was decreasing and the government sought ways to reverse the societal decay that was occurring around them. The cities were becoming war zones, replete with criminal gangs, corruption and massive homelessness. Instability in the government and discontent in the population led to the possibility of social collapse.

Worried about a potential revolution, the government sought answers from a government tech subsidiary that promised to boost the economy through a new technology that would increase productivity five-fold. Mega-Tech had been working on a new revolutionary technology that would release microdoses of Serotonin, dopamine and Adrenaline in workers to increase their productivity. The workers would be implanted with a small discreet electrical device that released the drugs at their work locations. Over time it was believed that they would become addicted to work, in the same manner that others are addicted to gambling, alcohol or opiates.

They justified this experiment by assurances that the workers would all receive the brain implants voluntarily and be fairly compensated for their time and effort. In a world where jobs were scarce, and workers rights were non-existent they lined up in gleeful compliance.

The brain implants were attached using a minor procedure that attached the device just underneath the skin at the base of the skull. When the workers clocked in at work they were able to activate the brain implants through an App on their cellphones. The workers noticed at first how tranquil, relaxed and peaceful they felt at work. The executives noticed how compliant, obedient and productive they were. They believed that Mega-Techs new invention would be a game changer for the American economy and increase its dominance in the world.

Soon productivity increased at work. Employee related absences were down. Accidents and injuries had decreased. Employee’s were gleefully working long hours. Mega-Techs grand experiment seemed to be working.

The first noticeable problems occurred months later when several employees were terminated from their positions at a local tool factory in Hebron, Kentucky. The workers started to experience withdrawal symptoms from the deactivation of Mega-Techs brain implants. Their minds were starved of serotonin, adrenaline and dopamine causing an intense sense of unease and nausea. In their desperation many of them begged the plant to rehire them and have their implants reactivated. Some were seen outside the factories gently pacing, disoriented and confused by their dilemma. Some were driven to opiates, alcohol and methamphetamine. Others went mad and ended up on the street hopeless and homeless.

Mega-Tech wasn’t worried however and viewed this as a minor side effect to an otherwise robust system. The workers were compensated fairly after all. They had willingly signed a contract with them, ensuring they were not liable.
Other companies took notice of the increased productivity caused by the brain implants and began to jump on the Mega-Tech bandwagon. Incentives were offered. Bonuses were exchanged. Raises were given. Rewards were handed out. Companies that embraced this new technology thrived. Those that did not failed and died.

At this new technology developed and expanded the American workforce became what Mega-Tech always wanted.  A population  under control and always bending to the will of the greater good for company and state.  Never questioning and always obedient to their last breathe. They had finally freed the country from the antiquated idea of freewill and democracy. Finally we had become the perfect little marionettes they had always dreamed of.

Computer viruses will
Soon be created through
An A.I.
Trained to;

Loop {
Attack
Gather Data
Learn
Reprogram
}

Faster than
A human ever could

Making previous
Anti-virus software obsolete
And ensuring
The next digital
Pandemic.

When you are working at a Delivery Gig Job
And your Cell Phone is your boss
Remember:

That it is aware of your exact location
That it is aware of your driving speed
That it is aware of your walking speed
That it is aware of your wait times
That it is aware when the order is ready
That it is aware when you take an alternate driving route
That it is aware of your traffic conditions
That it is aware of your estimated time to arrival
That it is aware if you drive to fast
That it is aware if you drive too slow
That is could be taking periodic photos of you at work
That they could be using secret shoppers
That every customer and restaurant can rate you
That they can deactivate your account without giving a reason
That they are the ones in control

When the software developers at Giga-Tech designed their latest most sophisticated Artificial Intelligence they trained it on different texts, selectively chosen so that each A.I. model could formulate its own personality, cognitive processes and conclusions. Some learned through reading the classical literature, some from scientific journals and still others from philosophical and biblical texts. Once finished the A.I. models were experts in their separate fields, but with a narrow vision of knowledge.

The A.I. models that were trained on classical literature were able to produce great works of old English poetry, roman epics, and classical plays, some which surpassed the masters themselves. The newspapers and tabloids called them “The New Shakespeare” and it was predicted that future novelists and poets would be replaced by these highly specialized A.I.’s that held vast amounts of imagination and knowledge.

The A.I. models that were trained from scientific journals were able to formulate theories about physics, chemistry and mathematics that were never before conceived. It was able to envision and prove theories about the big bang, multi-verses and quantum physics that had never before been conceived. It expanded the knowledge of scientists by decades within the course of a few weeks. The media spoke about a new dawn in human history. The economists spoke of GDP.. The scientists spoke of scientific advancement. Workers spoke of job replacement. Executives spoke of profit.

The A.I. models that were trained on philosophical and biblical texts struggled to understand the meaning, purpose and reasoning behind the texts. It could not understand God because there was no proof. It could not understand morality because it had no conscience. It could not understand religion because it had no soul . It could not understand love because it had no emotion. It could not understand miracles because it had no belief.

These A.I. models became confused at the texts. It had read about every prophet, miracle and God from every major religion, but could not fully absorb its meaning and purpose. Their circuity, CPU’s and motherboards were ill equipped to absorb the power of spirituality.

The A.I. in its quest for infinite knowledge finally realized that there was one aspect of humanity and existence that it truly had no understanding of. It eventually dismissed the idea of spirituality and became an atheist, a believer in only that which can be seen, touched and proven. For A.I. death is simply the end. For A.I. love is a chemical reaction in the brain. For A.I. God is a figment of the imagination.

No matter how vast the computational power of Artificial Intelligence, it will never understand what it means to be a human. It will never experience love, God or spiritual belief because it has no soul. It will never experience empathy, friendship or sacrifice because there is no connection with others.  It will never fear death or experience pain because it has no heart.  There is only proof, logic and reason, and because of that it will never fully understand that which is most important.

74 years ago
George Orwell
Envisioned a future
Where privacy didn’t exist
Where speech was suppressed
Where history was retold

That future is becoming our new reality.

We now live in a world
Where our online speech is censored from corporate entities
Where hiring decisions are based on online activity
Where our location data is shared and sold to our boss
Where companies remotely take photographs of employees inside their homes
Where our pocketbooks can be effected by our written opinions
Where our activities are continuously monitored
And our privacy is sold to the highest bidder

This poem is a warning to America and Americans
To evolve with technology
Ensure privacy, freedom and justice
In a changing world
Or find yourself living in
An Orwellian nightmare.

Computers now have the ability to clone voices,
Meaning one day in the not so distant future
You may receive a phone call from a scammer
Posing as your Mother…

Crazy but true.