If you feel like you need a break from the invasion of the digital world, then you are not alone. That moment of peace, for many of us, comes when we don a crash helmet, start a scooter and ride.
If you are touring then you can take your time and enjoy the view largely undisturbed. If you are riding in the city then all your concentration is focussed on staying alive and making progress through the urban jungle. Though very different disciplines; both types of riding give an opportunity to clear our heads and forget about the constant demands of the real world.
Invasion of space
Scooter riding is a splendid respite, but the digital world is slowly invading even this holiest of places. If you take a call on a Bluetooth helmet intercom, nowadays there’s a chance that it might be some human-sounding automated sales robot. One who does not respond with outrage or humour to questions like “what underwear are you wearing?” and instead simply continues to try to sell you double glazing or switch pension provider.
Video: Podcast
That’s nothing compared to where A.I. is going. As an example check out the Podcast above discussing the origin of Capstan and Bunsen – our first mascots who feature at the beginning of all of the SLUK videos.
It’s worth listening to the lot, but at the very least, skip to 5 minutes in for the big reveal…
SPOILER ALERT – Don’t read on until you’ve listened to the podcast!
Not only is the whole script written by A.I; simply by inputting the text from our original article on the story of Capstan and Bunsen, but the entire conversation and all the banter was generated and performed by A.I. (in this case Google’s NotebookLM). Harry and Sally do not exist, it’s simply one computer talking to itself, in two very convincing human voices.
So what we are saying here is that pretty much every area of content creation: photos, sounds and even video can be generated by AI to quite a high standard. Like some bars in Thailand, it’s increasingly difficult to tell what is real and what isn’t. Soon digital fakery will be everywhere, and old-school quality, made by real humans, will be sought after. That’s what we are banking on anyway. SLUK is like vinyl records in a world of MP3s.
Where to next boss?
Perhaps it’s better to go for a ride where you know it’s safe.
The question is, will it be safe on the road once A.I. is in charge. In theory, the roads should be safer once A.I. controls most lorries, taxis and ambulances, but until we get to that point, there will be some horrific accidents.
Out now – driverless taxis!
On a recent trip to the USA, Iggy sampled a ride around San Francisco in a Waymo driverless taxi (see the video above). These things are dripping with sensors but they are also kitted with morals. Driverless vehicles are programmed to deal with a chaotic world, but as humans know, there are certain circumstances where a crash is unavoidable. In a split second, you might need to decide whether to hit a car or mow down some pedestrians. The algorithms are actually programmed so a mother pushing a pram may be saved as a priority over a dog or an adult man.
I wonder on that pre-ordained scale of importance, where scooter riders come? Pretty low I’d guess.
Are we A.I. Luddites?
Let’s get it straight, we at SLUK are not against A.I. We use it every day; whenever we check a weather forecast, or use Google Maps to show us the fastest route somewhere, avoiding the current traffic jams. Our phones, cameras and video editing software are all A.I. infused, with the intention of making previously complex and time-consuming tasks ever faster. That’s all fine with us.
However, the headlong race towards the 4th industrial revolution is not going to come without a cost. People in certain trades are going to lose their jobs. The massive data centres running constantly to organise this future are actually gobbling up both water and electricity at an alarming rate.
Perhaps the worst possible outcome is one where so much of the planet’s organisation is handed to A.I. to the point that we can’t operate without it. As this article points out, you should never summon forces that you can’t control. Then you are in trouble.
On that note, I’m off for a ride on my stinky 2-stroke scooter where the world is much simpler. Perhaps you should too. When the lights go out and the system is rebooting, we are the only ones who will still be able to get about…
Sticky
