Smart (part 5) - the not-so-secret AI agents

First an apology: I know I said I would finish this series with this post, but the word agent started coming up everywhere. I had to explore (just a little more) the latest ways we are being convinced (aka tricked) that a sophisticated program is an agent with human-like intelligence.

In part 4, I explained how the first required step in convincing someone that a thing is intelligent is to convince them that it is an agent – an individual with potential agency over its own actions, behaviours and responses. I highlighted what I called ‘human hacking’: the covert and deliberate programming of Smart ChatBots to use language that implies the existence of an agent, and then relying on humans to do what they always do: impute agency, intelligence, sentience, and even consciousness.

Well, now the techies have abandoned the covert methods, to openly declare that 2025 is going to be the year of the AI agent. 

And here I was thinking 2025 was the Year of Glaciers' Preservation; Peace and Trust; Quantum Science and Technology, and Cooperatives.

Simplistic thinking - 12 steps to beat your addiction

It's great you're here. The world needs more people willing to let go of simplistic thinking, ready to join the complexity revolution. 

Simplistic Anonymous (SimpAnon) is an international fellowship helping addicts resist the appeal and pervasiveness of simplistic thinking in our culture. It opens the door to living well with complexity.

If you are willing to let go of some simplistic illusions, experience the discomfort AND awe of complexity and contradiction, and embrace the rewards of living in an amazingly rich and incredible world - Simplistics Anonymous is for you. 

The Twelve Step program was created as Alcoholics Anonymous in 1935. It has since been used for many types of addictions - gambling, shopping, prescription medication, etc. Although it has been adapted over time, the premise of each step remains the same for all recovery programs. The original program emphasised healing power of the Christian conception of God, but recent adaptations use the idea of 'a higher power' however the person conceives it. 

The Simplistics Anonymous twelve-step program provides a guide to a lifestyle that embraces the rich fullness of our amazing world and your place within it. 

This page outlines the 12-step program for recovery from addition to simplistic thinking. On this page, you can read a background to addiction and the appeal and many dangers of an addiction to simplistic thinking.

Simplistic thinking - are you an addict?

Welcome to Simplistics Anonymous, also known as SimpAnon.

You may have come to this page because a friend recommended us, or you may have been googling why you feel numb, bored or so disconnected from life. You may be wondering if there is an alternative to feeling that life is pretty flat. 

Well, it's possible you are addicted to simplistic thinking, without knowing it. This addiction is real, it's destructive, and it's disconnecting. 

Luckily, there is a solution. 

Part 1 on this page explains the appeal and dangers of simplistic thinking, and why people become addicted to it. Part 2 outlines the 12-step recovery program for people addicted to simplistic thinking. 

Wild and zany - whose adjective is it anyway?

In these days of ubiquitous social media, online dating and 'tell us how good you are' job interviews, we frequently need to describe ourselves.

To do this, we use adjectives like friendly, fun, down-to-earth, positive, thoughtful, creative, caring, trustworthy, dedicated, motivated, effective. You can even find helpful lists online if you need more impressive adjectives for your profile.

When I was young, we were schooled in modesty: to assume effort, character and ability would speak for themselves. Self promotion was frowned upon. So, the contemporary need to self-describe and self-promote has been uncomfortable for me.

But I'm used to it now. I no longer panic in interviews when asked to describe myself in three words, and I follow the job seeker's guideline: 'Don't be too modest'. 

But sometimes the way people talk about themselves, well, it just doesn't feel right to me.

Source: Public Domain

Here are a few examples that feel off beam:

• We're soooo crazy! - group of performers in an interview after a concert
• We're wild; we're out of control; look out world! - group of 30-something football fans
• My parties are always great because I'm so zany! - woman at public function she organised
• We're all really cool; you'll like working here - new work colleague.

When a person says these sorts of things, it's not that I disagree with them. What feels strange and a bit off is that they use these adjectives to describe themselves.

I find myself wondering, is it actually their adjective to use?

Green - another way to over-consume?

Green is such a versatile colour. 

It's my second favourite colour (after purple); it symbolises nature and the natural world. Green also represents tranquillity, good luck, health, and jealousy. It's an easy colour to live with.

Green is also a versatile adjective. Merriam-Webster provides ten different definitions just for the adjective form of green alone. It can mean the colour between yellow and blue on the light spectrum, covered in foliage, pleasant, youthful, unripe, envious, sickly, naive, unprocessed, and related to environmentalism. 

I want to talk about that tenth definition of green:

♦️ often capitalized: relating to or being an environmentalist political movement ♦️ concerned with or supporting environmentalism ♦️ tending to preserve environmental quality (as by being recyclable, biodegradable, or non-polluting)

Being green and supporting green ideas is becoming more mainstream. It used to be a fringe ideology, adopted by hippies and drop-outs. 

As green ideas have entered the mainstream, a new phenomenon known as greenwash has emerged. 

Greenwash involves pretending to be green in order to sell more.

But how can we detect this thin wash of 'green' over otherwise unchanged ideas and products?