“They’re intelligence factories not data centers!” declares the proclaimed AI expert, who I quickly dub, Robo Woman. Correcting the audience member, clearly a confused mere mortal, only magnifies the degree to which humans have fallen behind. Her brown eyes sparkle with excitement as she describes the AI race between China and the US. “We’re already 5 years behind! Do you know what AI is capable of!” Everyone listens intently as she continues her arrogant narrative of AI The Inevitable. “Well,” she extolls “health issues that take years to identify will be diagnosed in seconds!” Part megachurch, part Tony Robbin’s seminar, the audience is caught in the rip curl of agreement. She sits back in her chair, leaving the other panelists onstage stupefied, with their bygone-era jargon “geo-political” this – “economic strategy” that. She resumes. Her symmetric, flawless beauty projects off a Jumbotron amplifying her emphatic delivery. Everyone is on the edge of their seats.
“The intelligence will flow from the factories - hardwired into everyone’s homes.” My eyes dart around the theater, wondering if anyone else is feeling an Orwellian chill. After the program, four 40-something women gush about Robo Woman’s insights and how powerful a speaker she is. For them it was like witnessing 14 revelations on a TikTok video.
I leave the program taking no comfort in its promise for profit, trading the soft tissue of humanity for this hardcore manipulation. AI may be inevitable but so are its consequences. Just ask it.
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