haven't too much to share, only a thought and a tear

( robotarmageddon )

 
I've been talking to my students lately

about AI
(artificial intelligence)

and we've talked a lot about the question:

if computers can match us intellectually,

then

what makes us different?

What makes us human?

A computer is

the extension of 

our brain;

it is

the collective brain

of the best 

                                      or the worst

of humanity.

It is coming to

maturity

                              now.

Meanwhile

we, the childlike

parents of this fumbling monster
need

a computer to read, need

a computer to add, need

a computer to tell us the weather

and the news

and everything in between.

We're not thinking for ourselves,

and

we're numbed by technological overhaul.

I proposed to the students today

that perhaps if we are to keep in step

with computers,

the next step in the evolution

of humankind

is the psychopath:

he or she

who has not emotion,

only brain;

he or she

can match the computer

byte for bite.

I said to my students:

if I could just get rid

of my heart,

I'd be able to groom my brain
to perfection.

It is my emotion,

my heart, that keeps my mind

from flowering.

If I had no emotion,

then I would be able to match

the machine.

One of the girls looked at me

with fiery eyes,

and said to me later:

That's crazy.

You need your heart

to be my teacher.

And I said:

yes.

The heart is the thing

that makes us

hu

man and woman

that's it--

the heart.

And that

is what

I'll keep.

I'm going away for a few days --

stay warm.