When asked if I should answer the question of who I admired and looked to for advice, my Magic Eight Ball replied,” Definitely yes.”
OK, the Magic Eight Ball and I have a history together. My sister had one when I was young, and I would “borrow” hers to ask endless questions. I rarely followed the advice, though. It was just fun to ask and see the answers to the ridiculous questions I posed.
It wasn’t until I was in the Navy and saw the Magic Eight Ball in action that I realized it was a serious tool. Life in the Navy was an endless round of idiot reports, logs, and queries. Making it look as though you were actually doing something constructive was important. The idea was to do this without too much strain. Therefore, the Magic Eight Ball, game spinners, dice, and other devices were regularly used to generate answers. It was called Gundecking*.
I was looking for more, and I’ve found it.
After the Navy, I thought I had seen the last of this sort of stuff. But its modern-day equivalent has resurfaced in the form of AI. You can now find AI programs that will emulate famous historical personages. There is no need to ask your father or mother for advice. Now you can ask a simulated Napoleon, Socrates (I advise that you avoid the hemlock, young sir!), Winston Churchill, or Julius Ceasar.
Yep! Until now, you had to depend on real people for advice. That meant vetting them for character, or lack thereof, and reliability.
A new company in Silicon Valley is working to extract the essence of fictional characters and place them online. Consider, if you will, that you need some advice on industrial espionage against a rival company. Who could be better to advise you than 007 himself, James Bond? Looking for help with the “bad boys’? Now you can tap the ex[pertise of Tony Soprano. Have a weird medical issue but get no respect from your doctor? Call on Dr. Gregory House – he’ll set them straight. Need help developing leadership skills? Call on Jon-Luc Picard.
You no longer need to deal with the questionable judgment of the people you’ve had access to until now. With a few keystrokes, you can access the A-list forum. Go with the flow and go, AI!
Operators are standing by!
*https://loucarrerascarver.com/2021/03/23/forms-and-procedures/
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Funny and informative!
Last night I asked ChatGPT for advice planning a trip to Napoli. It had a lot of good ideas and was very enthusiastic! The thing about AI it doesn’t say, “Why would you want to do that?” or “Won’t that be expensive?” or “Can I come along?” 🤣
But have you fact checked the suggestions?
Yep!
Thanks for this content