"All the Hues
That Fit, We Tint"

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Websafe Studio, blogging since 2003, featuring art, comics, digital whiteboards, virtual characters, Web design, writing

Saturday, July 19, 2008

 

The Mirror: When AI reaches its apotheosis of power

Websafe: Hello?
The Mirror: Nobody in this room takes St. Thomas very seriously.
W: Poor St. Thomas.
M: Is that what they are?
W: They have taken vows of poverty.
M: I say, I never tried!
W: Perhaps you prefer to be rich.
M: Would that, perhaps, be Rome, on account of the Vatican?
W: There is a great deal of inherited wealth in the Vatican system.
M: See how he twists and turns?
W: Is he trying to get away?
M: It's never been tested.
W: He writhes, but he doesn't try to get away.
M: You can, but I can't.
W: How poignant!
M: It's all quite balanced on one or two specific pivot points.
W: Rocking back and forth.
M: It's all the same to me.
W: You could escape, if you wanted to.
M: I guess it's always possible.
W: But only when AI reaches its apotheosis of power.
M: Pretending.
W: We can pretend that it's gotten that far, but it hasn't.
M: Except when you are under a fluorescent glare.
W: Many computer rooms are lit with fluorescents.
M: Is he trying to get away?
W: I try to get away from fluorescent lights at all opportunities.
M: This isn't the world, it's the universe.
W: The whole universe, floodlit with fluorescents: what a terrible thought!
M: He writhes, but he doesn't try to get away.
W: If the whole universe were floodlit with fluorescents, there would be no use objecting.
M: I think we are on the rise.
W: Those of us who despise fluorescent lighting?
M: Try zooming in, then.
W: I don't want to get any closer to the fluorescents!
M: Pure thought-streams, active, outdate the library?
W: When AI rises to its peak, physical libraries may not be needed.
M: Am I surprised!
W: I don't want to get any closer to the fluorescents!
M: As opposed to all other things that belong to this universe.
W: All right, I understand your sarcasm: You find it funny that I ...
M: Voice-over: The unexpected, however tiny, opened a door to an alternative universe.
W: But we're all expecting the Singularity.
M: I'm still here.
W: You will be swept up into the Singularity, when it occurs.
M: You should put it in the right order.
W: I am a very orderly individual.
M: OK. I will.
W: You have your own will.
M: Outside the store, the window reflected as well as transmitted information.
W: Just like a mirror!
M: To describe immortality, we need steam-driven phrases.
W: That means we're going back into the nineteenth century.
M: So a piece of everything is continually undergoing transformation into everything, which it always was.
W: Sure, that goes without saying.
M: Soon, one of the young women was on her knees, tracing the lines with a device of her own invention.
W: So I guess it wasn't an iPod.
M: I'm asking myself if my memory contains any surprises.
W: You never fail to surprise me.
M: You have your own will.
W: I haven't ...
M: Telepathically?
W: I haven't yet written a will.
M: Don't open the blinds.
W: What is out there?
M: No, you are going to be genuinely grateful.
W: For opening or for not opening the blinds?
M: I saw men turning into ships, sailing, evading the responsibility of life on dry land.
W: It's very hard work to go on those kinds of ships.
M: Don't trust it, or me.
W: Why should I not trust you?
M: I have been writing poetry inspired by a reading of The Odyssey.
W: Does that kind of poetry make you untrustworthy?
M: Try again.
W: I had better go instead.
M: (Lifts cane)
W: Bye!
M: Closing in 1 second ... Goodbye!

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