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If a machine can perfectly ''impersonate'' us, it can ''fake'' us. The point must soon arrive, therefore, when ''we can deploy [[AI]] to doom-scroll on our behalf''. And that ought to be devastating. Think [[GameStop]], only with the [[Redditor]]s tooled up with the same tech the hedgies have. While the machines joust furiously at each other we can escape through the side entrance and go back to what we were doing. | If a machine can perfectly ''impersonate'' us, it can ''fake'' us. The point must soon arrive, therefore, when ''we can deploy [[AI]] to doom-scroll on our behalf''. And that ought to be devastating. Think [[GameStop]], only with the [[Redditor]]s tooled up with the same tech the hedgies have. While the machines joust furiously at each other we can escape through the side entrance and go back to what we were doing. | ||
As {{author|Douglas Adams}} remarked of the video recorder which watches television for us that we don’t have time to watch ourselves | As {{author|Douglas Adams}} remarked of the video-recorder which watches television for us that we don’t have time to watch ourselves<ref>For thirty years, [[Grandma Contrarian]] had the 1981 Royal Wedding taped on video. It was her most prized possession. Not once did any of us watch it.</ref> such an “[[electric monk]]” would be a ''labour-saving device''. | ||
Call this new implementation our “[[avatar]]”. An [[electric monk]], even. But it is a ''virtual'' [[electric monk]]. | Call this new implementation our “[[avatar]]”. An [[electric monk]], even. But it is a ''virtual'' [[electric monk]]. | ||
''Real'' [[electric monk|electric monks]], like electric sheep,<ref> | ''Real'' [[electric monk|electric monks]], like electric sheep,<ref>You know, as envisaged by {{Author|Phillip K. Dick}} in {{br|Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?}} of course. Sadly, they didn’t make the film version. Too — ahh — expensive?</ref> would be costly: they would take up space, drain energy and require servicing. ''Virtual [[electric monk]]s would not''. | ||
Now if I can have ''one'' [[avatar]] emulating my human browsing habits — I can have ''one thousand''. Each of us can. And if the technology works<ref>If it doesn’t — by no means certain to — then nor does The Man’s, and this phase of our cultural existence will pass on by itself.</ref> then the forthcoming apocalyptic battle will not be between ''us'' and ''The Man'', but between ''our'' technology and ''The Man’s'', and since, [[Q.E.D.]], The Man’s technology has no way of telling ''us'' from ''our avatars'', ''we have the advantage''. Especially since our [[avatar]]s ''don’t'' have to emulate ''our'' behaviour at all. We can obstreperously configure them to emulate ''something else''. | Now if I can have ''one'' [[avatar]] emulating my human browsing habits — I can have ''one thousand''. Each of us can. And if the technology works<ref>If it doesn’t — by no means certain to — then nor does The Man’s, and this phase of our cultural existence will pass on by itself.</ref> then the forthcoming apocalyptic battle will not be between ''us'' and ''The Man'', but between ''our'' technology and ''The Man’s'', and since, [[Q.E.D.]], The Man’s technology has no way of telling ''us'' from ''our avatars'', ''we have the advantage''. Especially since our [[avatar]]s ''don’t'' have to emulate ''our'' behaviour at all. We can obstreperously configure them to emulate ''something else''. | ||