Beautifully written, and so haunting! Deeply, deeply disturbing in spite of the perfect dark humor ("assuming that Cloudfare stays running & you don't cancel your subscription..."). I was so moved by your conclusion, & the St Vincent Millay poem--the *real* kind of confrontation with death, which is part of the great mystery of our lot in this world, & which shouldn't be taken away.
Agreed. More than one great writer has noticed the similarity/connection between Tech and (Dark) Magick, and never was this plainer than in this instance. "Necromancy" is the perfect word.
I'm working on a little piece for Biblioll College about the stunning TV series, THE AMERICANS, which we just finished last week. I'm particularly intrigued (and disturbed) by the character of Elizabeth Jennings, played by Keri Russell. So much so, that I've scheduled a Zoom with my younger daughter (Rach's little sister), who is a Licensed Professional Counselor, to pick her psychologist's brain about what's going on there. I mean, are there specific diagnoses for people who have so identified themselves to an ideology that they are capable of murder and deception, of breaking every moral law, and above all lying to themselves (and their nearest and dearest) on a daily basis, in order, supposedly, to promote it? Is that a nameable *thing*?
Inquiring minds want to know. Besides, while it seems an ever-present phenomenon in human history (having also just watched the excellent NUREMBERG), I think it may be especially important to understand in our present political climate.
Boze, thank you, thank you for calling this evil, this abomination by its proper name. I recall St. John Paul II, who had a doctorate in moral theology, insisting that we always name evil lest we be seduced.
As the little seamstress observed, you provide some much needed comic relief (grim, but really funny): "You thought your Aunt Lisa died and was buried, but no—there she is, in your phone, asking about your tuna casserole. " Ouch!!!
Sane perspectives and "voices" such as yours are needed during our strange time, when even the elect could be deceived, if that were possible (cf. Matthew 24:24).
I shudder at the very thought of this use of AI and its frankensteinian creations.
This and the ai therapists seem really sickening to me. To unleash ai and then use it for stuff like this is preying on the psyche of vulnerable people by replacing personal human relationships with a synthetic subpar smartbot, for money. And ai is still hemmoraging cash and apparently won’t ever be a profitable venture. We seriously need regulations with this shit and fast! Shut it down!
I am incredibly disturbed by this, about as much as I am disturbed by young people using ChatGPT as a therapist or spiritual guru. I believe openai announced they are rolling out erotica. So now (for a price) people can form romantic relationships with these large language models. And then I can’t help but wonder, how did we get here? How did it become so socially permissible to do this and call it normal life?
Oh absolutely NOT. What in the digital necromancy-meets-Silicon-Valley seance is happening out there?
The idea that you could film someone for three minutes and resurrect them like a chatty JPEG is so profoundly cursed I honestly don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or salt my phone. Not everything needs to be innovated! Some realms; death, taxes, and the mystery of whatever your cat is staring at in the corner, are meant to remain unsolved.
And the worst part? Society is out here treating this like a quirky tech development instead of an obvious 'This is how the horror movie starts' moment. I vehemently oppose. FULL STOP. Let the dead rest! Let people grieve.
This app is the exact opposite of progress. Hard pass, blocked, banished, and spiritually saged.
Various stories also tell us not to conjure demons. That's no more of an argument against DnD than this is against AI.
Beyond that. Maybe it's unhelpful. Maybe it's helpful. I don't know if there's enough evidence to really say. But remove that dumb bit about old stories. Old stories also say that if you give women power it inevitably leads to secioty collapsing. Are you now an Andrew Tate fan because of Pandora?
Inevitably, you will have to listen to the simulation of your departed loved ones trying to sell you products and services. And that perversion of your memories will eventually ruin what love you had for them. Whoever thought this simulation thing was a good idea WANTED TO PROFIT FROM YOUR LOSS. THEY DO NOT WORK FOR YOU, THEY WANT YOU TO WORK FOR THEM.
Beautifully written, and so haunting! Deeply, deeply disturbing in spite of the perfect dark humor ("assuming that Cloudfare stays running & you don't cancel your subscription..."). I was so moved by your conclusion, & the St Vincent Millay poem--the *real* kind of confrontation with death, which is part of the great mystery of our lot in this world, & which shouldn't be taken away.
Agreed. More than one great writer has noticed the similarity/connection between Tech and (Dark) Magick, and never was this plainer than in this instance. "Necromancy" is the perfect word.
I'm working on a little piece for Biblioll College about the stunning TV series, THE AMERICANS, which we just finished last week. I'm particularly intrigued (and disturbed) by the character of Elizabeth Jennings, played by Keri Russell. So much so, that I've scheduled a Zoom with my younger daughter (Rach's little sister), who is a Licensed Professional Counselor, to pick her psychologist's brain about what's going on there. I mean, are there specific diagnoses for people who have so identified themselves to an ideology that they are capable of murder and deception, of breaking every moral law, and above all lying to themselves (and their nearest and dearest) on a daily basis, in order, supposedly, to promote it? Is that a nameable *thing*?
Inquiring minds want to know. Besides, while it seems an ever-present phenomenon in human history (having also just watched the excellent NUREMBERG), I think it may be especially important to understand in our present political climate.
Oh, darn, pardon all, I meant to post that as a separate note, not as a comment on Boze's excellent post. Apologies! Brain slippage.
Boze, thank you, thank you for calling this evil, this abomination by its proper name. I recall St. John Paul II, who had a doctorate in moral theology, insisting that we always name evil lest we be seduced.
As the little seamstress observed, you provide some much needed comic relief (grim, but really funny): "You thought your Aunt Lisa died and was buried, but no—there she is, in your phone, asking about your tuna casserole. " Ouch!!!
Sane perspectives and "voices" such as yours are needed during our strange time, when even the elect could be deceived, if that were possible (cf. Matthew 24:24).
I shudder at the very thought of this use of AI and its frankensteinian creations.
This and the ai therapists seem really sickening to me. To unleash ai and then use it for stuff like this is preying on the psyche of vulnerable people by replacing personal human relationships with a synthetic subpar smartbot, for money. And ai is still hemmoraging cash and apparently won’t ever be a profitable venture. We seriously need regulations with this shit and fast! Shut it down!
I am incredibly disturbed by this, about as much as I am disturbed by young people using ChatGPT as a therapist or spiritual guru. I believe openai announced they are rolling out erotica. So now (for a price) people can form romantic relationships with these large language models. And then I can’t help but wonder, how did we get here? How did it become so socially permissible to do this and call it normal life?
Yes, agreed that this is a vile thing. Now, I'm off to write a horror story about this....
My book No Life but Immortality confirms your point and demonstrates the consequences of this hideous trend.
You nailed it: losing the chance to confront death for what it is strips us of our appreciation of life.
Oh absolutely NOT. What in the digital necromancy-meets-Silicon-Valley seance is happening out there?
The idea that you could film someone for three minutes and resurrect them like a chatty JPEG is so profoundly cursed I honestly don’t know whether to laugh, cry, or salt my phone. Not everything needs to be innovated! Some realms; death, taxes, and the mystery of whatever your cat is staring at in the corner, are meant to remain unsolved.
And the worst part? Society is out here treating this like a quirky tech development instead of an obvious 'This is how the horror movie starts' moment. I vehemently oppose. FULL STOP. Let the dead rest! Let people grieve.
This app is the exact opposite of progress. Hard pass, blocked, banished, and spiritually saged.
Various stories also tell us not to conjure demons. That's no more of an argument against DnD than this is against AI.
Beyond that. Maybe it's unhelpful. Maybe it's helpful. I don't know if there's enough evidence to really say. But remove that dumb bit about old stories. Old stories also say that if you give women power it inevitably leads to secioty collapsing. Are you now an Andrew Tate fan because of Pandora?
No need to beat around the bush. It’s evil. It’s creepy. It’s demonic. Calling a spade a spade isn’t backwater.
AI is anti-christ
Ahhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!
Inevitably, you will have to listen to the simulation of your departed loved ones trying to sell you products and services. And that perversion of your memories will eventually ruin what love you had for them. Whoever thought this simulation thing was a good idea WANTED TO PROFIT FROM YOUR LOSS. THEY DO NOT WORK FOR YOU, THEY WANT YOU TO WORK FOR THEM.
Wow, that’s so dystopian.