z|i

z|i

I’ve published on the topic of Artificial Intelligence [here and here]. I won’t write more about it today. The whole saga is all too predictable and disheartening, and I can’t bring myself to dwell on the obvious consequences that will unfold as we extract “profit” by outsourcing the last vestiges of our humanity to digital slaves.

So I won’t. However, my convictions demand that I stake a resolute position.

I CATAGORICALLY REJECT ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE

I will not use it.¹ Not for anything. Not for queries. Not for “artistic inspiration.” I will not (knowingly) consume its products. [Of course this will become harder and harder as time goes on. Perhaps one day I will find myself living in a grass hut with no amenities because AI has been used to “optimize” them all].

Thoughts While Driving

The other day while driving, I was overwhelmed by feelings of frustration and dread prompted by casual reflection on the AI topic. In that moment I longed for a bold symbol to express my Anti-AI stance. It’s a simple enough position, it seems like it could be encapsulated in a concise symbolic form.

My first thought was the obvious – AI within a “General Prohibition Sign“

Functional, I guess. But not terribly inspiring.

It would be better to produce something somehow positive, but also diametrically opposed to Artificial Intelligence, “AI.”

Hey! How about ZI – for “Zoetic² Intelligence?”

I bounced around on how it should look. To fully juxtapose “AI” it should be lowercase. But I found that either uppercase or lowercase, I didn’t like the look of periods behind each letter. Although without them it seemed like it should be read as a word, probably pronounced “zy,” like the “xy” in xylophone.

So, how about this?

Bold. Simple. Charismatic. I’ll take it!!!

[Want to know how to make the vertical bar [|] symbol on a keyboard? Find the backslash [\] key – usually above the [enter] key – and hold [shift] while you press it. On a phone keyboard it’s in the second screen of symbols]

z|i

[Epilogue]

Of course, with a keen eye always on the lookout for the fabled “Brand New Thing,” I wondered, in all the Starry Googleverse, had the phrase “Zoetic Intelligence” ever been inscribed?

I discovered that it had! Precisely…once – in a poem or lyric called “I Wonder” by a musician called “Yahyah,” in a Tumblr post from October 15th, 2012:

Judging by the date and the lyrical context³, I suspect that this concatenation was poetic color, and NOT a defiant stance against the existential threat of Artificial Intelligence. So, hat tip to you, Yahyah! But unless you tell me otherwise, I’m gonna claim this as another Brand New Thing!

(By the way, Yahyah is a WAY bigger deal than Dirtsmith! Check out THIS Knowledge Panel!)

z|i

1. My first, last, and only intentional interaction with Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a thoroughly unrewarding conversation with ChatGPT regarding Non-Renewable Renewable Energy Harvesting Technologies (NRREHT)
   [Note – while wind, solar, and hydraulic energy are available and “renewable,” the machines required to capture this power are non-renewable, and manufactured entirely from non-renewable materials using non-renewable energy] ↩︎
2. “of or relating to life : LIVING, VITAL” ↩︎
3. “I wonder
   What she writes
   What sort of things excite her
   If I keep writing
   I wonder if I’ll incite
   A poetic response
   Of zoetic intelligence” ↩︎