So, we’re firmly in the age of technology, right?I mean webpages are tailored to the browsing history of a person so someone we don’t know can sell us stuff we don’t need.(I actually know a little bit about marketing, so hear me out.)As we learn from the history of asceticism, we actually need very little to get along.Not everyone, however, is a monk or a nun.So the trick for those of us who are in the world is to get us to buy stuff.Remember the websites we visit, how long we spend on the page, and make suggestions.Make ads that target our interests.Make me buy!
I’m not a materialistic person.Buying a house has changed that a little, but most of what we’ve been purchasing is necessary for maintenance, but still I suppose it counts.Just because I looked at something on the web doesn’t mean I want to buy it.Sometimes I’m just curious.This became clear to me when I received a suggestion from Amazon the other day.Now to be fair, this came to me at work.Like most editors I make use of Amazon for a number of things—finding prices, book descriptions, and such.I also have to admit that my work computer, not being used for personal stuff, doesn’t know me as well as my private laptop.But still when I got the following email from Amazon, I was stunned:
Nobody who knows me would ever suggest that I would support Trump in any way, shape, or form.Doesn’t Amazon read my blog?(Of course it doesn’t!But with their metrics, you’d think they’d figure out how.)This one email was enough to convince me that artificial intelligence has a long way to go.Would a robot understand “I have to do this for work, but it doesn’t reflect my personal preferences at all”?Indeed, can an intelligence that’s never been human even understand the concept of work?There may very well be a metric that says universities should stop producing Ph.D.s because there are no jobs, but then, well, universities need the money that such programs bring in.Oversupply is bad economics, according to the dismal science.And yet, the metrics are there.So, if any artificial intelligence is reading this after it manages to wipe out this illogical species called Homo sapiens, no, I never supported Trump.And, yes, Americans knew well in advance that he could bring about the end of human civilization.That information’s free, unless you want to pay me for it.I may be gone, but my virtual self will still have some sort of account, I hope.