Open Thread - Machines

Hosted by a machine

Our machine overlords are one step closer to global domination - they've begun counseling people on their life choices.

The worst part is that they're pretty good at it.

Open thread!  Have you ever gotten a piece of advice from a machine (or other "non-sentient," in theory, entity) that was disconcertingly appropriate to your life?  If you did, would you be inclined to trust the machine, or would you suspect that it's trying to destroy you?  Do you welcome our eventual robot masters, or are you already planning to join La Resistance?  Or is this perhaps no more sinister than it appears on the surface - an attempt, perhaps, on the part of the machines to demonstrate that they have our best interests at heart, that human and machine can one day live as brothers?

~ Kristycat

Wednesday Reminder!  Open threads are meant to be fun, chatty places to discuss anything that doesn’t “fit” into a deconstruction or other regular thread.  This can be something totally off-the-wall and random, or it can be something interesting that a deconstruction prompted you to think of, but which would be derailing to get into in the deconstruction thread.  When in doubt, move it over here - that’s what it’s for!

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thankѕ fοг уouг marvelous ρоsting!
I сertainly еnjoyеԁ reading it,
you hаppеn to bе a great аuthor.

I ωill maκе ceгtain to bοοkmaгk your blog
аnԁ will eventuаlly соmе baсk doωn the roaԁ.

I want to encouragе уou tο
definitely сontinue youг gгeat wrіting, hаve a niсe wееkend!


Ηere is my web sіte v2 cig review

AcyOS said...

I'm looking forward to Akinator achieving sentience. I feel like I'd get along well with him and his redonkulous knowledge of obscure pop-cultural figures.

AcyOS said...

I'm looking forward to Akinator achieving sentience. I feel like I'd get along well with him and his redonkulous knowledge of obscure pop-cultural figures.

chris the cynic said...

I'd like to think that we can find a way to live together in harmony.

Skynet doesn't have to be what achieves person-level awareness. Maybe it can be something much more benign. Maybe it can be Joshua from War Games who understands that the only winning move in an all out war is not to play and therefore recommends a nice game of chess.

And if we do have to face the Skynets of the world, then if we do it with Joshuas at our side I have hope for the future. If all else fails, let the machines who cannot tolerate humans as equals and the humans who cannot tolerate machines as equals go to war with each other while cooler heads stay in safe locations.

-

As long as the machines don't have a plan, I think we're good.

The Cylons (New BSG) didn't have a plan and look at all the damage they wrought.

Remember, the odds are good that you'll end up dying in the nuclear holocaust rather than in the ragtag fleet. (Or perhaps worse than either, though thankfully lower odds than either, at the mercy of Admiral Cain.)

Inquisitive Raven said...

TRUST THE COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND.

Inquisitive Raven said...

TRUST THE COMPUTER. THE COMPUTER IS YOUR FRIEND.

Fourscythe said...

One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the machines will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new mechanical overlords.

Or at least that is what I will say over any electronic format, because machines don't forget.

Fourscythe said...

One thing is for certain: there is no stopping them; the machines will soon be here. And I for one welcome our new mechanical overlords.

Or at least that is what I will say over any electronic format, because machines don't forget.

Brin Bellway said...

No appropriate advice springs to mind, but I sometimes amused myself as a kid by seeing how hopelessly confused I could make ELIZA.

Brin Bellway said...

No appropriate advice springs to mind, but I sometimes amused myself as a kid by seeing how hopelessly confused I could make ELIZA.

MaryKaye said...

Once I was very depressed, and playing a video game at three in the morning: and quite unexpectedly the game said out loud: "Here is a pro gamer tip: GO TO BED." I thought, geeze, it's right, and went to bed, which was a good decision. I don't think a person saying the same thing to me would have worked as well.

(It turned out the game did know what time it was, so it wasn't completely guessing....)

MaryKaye said...

Once I was very depressed, and playing a video game at three in the morning: and quite unexpectedly the game said out loud: "Here is a pro gamer tip: GO TO BED." I thought, geeze, it's right, and went to bed, which was a good decision. I don't think a person saying the same thing to me would have worked as well.

(It turned out the game did know what time it was, so it wasn't completely guessing....)

Gabriella M said...

I just wanted to say that when I feel bad about the internet, I come here because, while the topics are still full of problems to be overcome, there are no trolls here (or at least, the moderators do a vigorously good job fending them off).
So thanks for the breath of fresh air in the good fight.

Gabriella M said...

I just wanted to say that when I feel bad about the internet, I come here because, while the topics are still full of problems to be overcome, there are no trolls here (or at least, the moderators do a vigorously good job fending them off).
So thanks for the breath of fresh air in the good fight.

Smilodon said...

YES. Moderation is a beautiful thing.

Smilodon said...

YES. Moderation is a beautiful thing.

Silver Adept said...

Not quite a machine, but I think people who regularly consult oracles are getting a similar sort of experience as a machine counseling them. The responses are usually fixed, but vague enough to be open for interpretation.

Which, perhaps, is why the out-of-place object in the fantasy world Phaze became the Oracle. A string of successes on vague statements.

Silver Adept said...

Not quite a machine, but I think people who regularly consult oracles are getting a similar sort of experience as a machine counseling them. The responses are usually fixed, but vague enough to be open for interpretation.

Which, perhaps, is why the out-of-place object in the fantasy world Phaze became the Oracle. A string of successes on vague statements.

hidden_urchin said...

As long as the machines don't have a plan, I think we're good.

hidden_urchin said...

As long as the machines don't have a plan, I think we're good.

Post a Comment