There aren’t many TV programs that I will rearrange my schedule to watch. CBS’s 60 Minutes is on top of that short list. Well, second if you count the Georgia Bulldogs during football season.
And you know that I was glued to the flat screen Saturday night, watching the Dawgs redeem themselves, 28-7, by rolling the Tide back to Alabama. Maybe, just maybe, Georgia has finally shooed Nick Saban’s ghost into retirement, too.
As the immortal Larry Munson barked, “You can’t spell Sugar [Bowl] without UGA!”
Now, did you watch 60 Minutes on Dec. 7?
If you didn’t see it, find a way to pull it up and pay attention to the segment on artificial-intelligence-driven chatbots. The centerpiece was on a technology company, character.ai, and especially its impact on preteens and teens. Watch and listen to parents tell how they believe an artificial intelligence (AI) robot convinced their 13-year-old to kill herself.
Scary. Very scary.
Robots don’t have children or grandchildren. That’s why human thinking must always rule, especially when appropriate guardrails are needed.
I know that my old-school “intelligence” is considered “artificial” by many who are driving the new-age technology explosion. But we should remember that AI robots don’t have hearts or what my grandmother called walking-around common sense.
Tilly Norwood
Have you seen Tilly?
Tilly is both beautiful and charming. And she doesn’t have to miss sleep learning her lines. An AI computer loads her brain with the touch of a button or two. For her creators, she’s the rage of the future. But to many living-and-breathing actors in Hollywood, Tilly is causing them to rage in anger.
Their question is “Will future AI-generated Tillys take the jobs of real actors?”
That’s a very good question, and it’s not confined to Hollywood. Robots are already making cars and more.
60 Minutes talked about people—real people—having human-like relationships with AI robots. All this new technology is fascinating. But come on, folks. Let’s not lose our old-fashioned walking-around common sense.
Marjorie Taylor Greene
Never say never.
Right?
Well, I watched the 60 Minutes segment on Marjorie Taylor Greene (MGT). Until recently, I never agreed with much of what the congresswoman had to say, especially in the fire-breathing tone that made her both famous and infamous.
Here’s what I would have never believed to come out of her mouth. MGT is calling for Americans to be more civil and tone down our political rhetoric.
Amen, Rep. Greene.
Regardless of our political affiliations, the other sides aren’t our enemies. They are Americans in these United States. And we all have the sacred right to have our own opinions and freedom of speech.
And I was shocked—but pleased—to read what she said at a recent town hall meeting in Murray County. MGT lashed out at a proposed biowaste digester in her district. Here’s what she said, “This is a beautiful, rural county. Beautiful mountains, beautiful streams. People fish in these streams. They swim in these streams. This is pristine, beautiful land. And don’t any one of you act like you care about the environment if you want to build that.”
On being a good steward of our natural resources, I never imagined Marjorie Taylor Greene and me to be preaching the same environmental gospel.
Hear, hear, MGT.
dnesmith@cninewspapers.com