This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is a celebration and a retrospective of one of my favorite shows of all time, Married…With Children.
This show was groundbreaking in so many ways. At a time when every other sitcom was about likable, feel-good families, Married…With Children aspired to be precisely not that with the ever-dysfunctional Bundy family. It really broke the mold for what a sitcom could be.
But it’s also one of those shows that gets lumped with others that couldn’t be made today. I respectfully disagree with that. In fact, I argue that Married…With Children is more relevant now than it was when it first aired. Enjoy!
I’ve talked a lot about artificial intelligence and the implications of this technology. In my defense, it’s an incredibly relevant topic that I just happen to be very interested in. From AI-Generated artwork to ChatGPT, these are truly exciting times for this field. I’m sure I’ll have plenty to talk about in the coming years.
However, I don’t just want to react to news or stories about AI. I’d also like to participate in this emerging field on some level, even if it’s just as a simple consumer. We don’t yet know the full capabilities of our current AI tools or how they’ll impact us in the short or long term. But that’s exactly why we should test it for ourselves and see what we can do with it.
To that end, I decided to do a little exercise with ChatGPT. Please note that I do not currently have access to ChatGPT-4. I’m still using the previous version, ChatGPT-3. That version is quite limited in a number of ways, but it’s still capable of providing insightful information.
So, I decided to see how much ChatGPT could offer in terms of understanding and articulating the basic concept of human rights. That’s something that has certainly been a hot topic in recent years. And for those of us in the United States, you could definitely argue that our current laws surrounding human rights are inadequate and need updating.
This is where ChatGPT comes in. I logged in and gave it a simple prompt. I told it to rewrite the Bill of Rights, the key part of the US Constitution that enshrines the basic rights that every citizen is guaranteed under the law. This is what it came up with.
The following document outlines the fundamental rights and freedoms of all individuals in a modern, democratic society. These rights are to be protected and upheld by the government, and any infringement upon them is a violation of the principles of justice and equality.
Article 1: Freedom of Expression and Thought All individuals have the right to freedom of expression, including the freedom to seek, receive, and impart information and ideas through any medium, regardless of frontiers. No individual shall be subject to censorship or prior restraint, and any attempt to limit or suppress the free exchange of ideas shall be deemed a violation of this right.
Article 2: Right to Privacy All individuals have the right to privacy in their personal lives, including the right to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects against unreasonable searches and seizures. No individual shall be subject to surveillance or monitoring without just cause, and any information obtained through such means shall be inadmissible in court.
Article 3: Right to Equality and Non-Discrimination All individuals are equal before the law and are entitled to equal protection and benefit of the law, without discrimination based on race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age, religion, or any other status. Any discrimination or prejudice against any individual or group shall be deemed a violation of this right.
Article 4: Right to a Fair Trial All individuals have the right to a fair and impartial trial, including the right to due process of law, the right to be informed of the charges against them, the right to confront and cross-examine witnesses, and the right to legal representation. No individual shall be subjected to cruel or unusual punishment, and all accused individuals shall be presumed innocent until proven guilty.
Article 5: Right to Peaceful Assembly and Protest All individuals have the right to peacefully assemble and to protest, including the right to participate in marches, demonstrations, and other forms of peaceful assembly. No individual shall be subject to violence or repression for exercising this right.
Article 6: Right to Education and Information All individuals have the right to education and information, including access to a free and comprehensive education system and the right to access information through any medium. The government shall ensure that all individuals have access to the tools necessary to exercise this right.
Article 7: Right to Healthcare All individuals have the right to access comprehensive healthcare, including preventative care, treatment, and medication, regardless of their ability to pay. The government shall ensure that all individuals have access to quality healthcare and shall take measures to address any disparities in healthcare access.
Article 8: Right to Housing All individuals have the right to adequate housing, including shelter, sanitation, and security, regardless of their economic or social status. The government shall take measures to ensure that all individuals have access to affordable and safe housing.
Article 9: Right to Work and Fair Labor Practices All individuals have the right to work and to fair labor practices, including the right to a living wage, safe and healthy working conditions, and the right to form and join trade unions. The government shall take measures to ensure that all individuals have access to decent work and shall prohibit any form of forced or compulsory labor.
Conclusion: These rights and freedoms are essential to the establishment and maintenance of a just and equitable society. It is the responsibility of the government to protect and uphold these rights, and it is the duty of all individuals to respect and defend them.
It only took ChatGPT about 10 seconds to craft this. After reading through it, I am legitimately impressed. I think this is a considerable upgrade over what the Bill of Rights covers. This version actually articulates the importance of privacy, ranking it just a rung below free expression. It also recognizes that people can’t truly be free if they don’t have some level of material guarantees, like housing, health care, education, and fair labor practices.
These are all major issues that are debated across the country and throughout the world. This new version of rights essentially simplifies the whole concept, laying out that this is what people need to be free of coercion, free of exploration, and free of want. Some may think these rights are incomplete or too utopian. That may be the case to some extent.
But even if it’s not perfect, it’s still an improvement. And again, it only took ChatGPT about 10 seconds to craft this. We humans are still arguing over slavery. We have no more excuses. We have a tool that can help us figure out little issues and big issues. And regardless of whether or not it’s intelligent or sentient, we would be wise to listen.
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video revisits a somewhat controversial comic that has garnered mixed feelings among comic book fans. X-Men Gold #30 was billed as the wedding between Kitty Pryde and Piotr Rasputin, a well-known romance that had been blossoming for years leading up to this comic. And this wedding promised to be the culmination of their relationship.
However, that’s not how things played out. Yes, a couple did get married in this issue, but it wasn’t Kitty and Pitor. It was Rogue and Gambit.
But regardless of how you feel about the pairing, this comic found a way to cheapen every romance involved. And I feel it offers some frustrating, but relevant messages for future superhero marriages.
Today is the first Sunday of Week 1 of a new NFL season.
For fans of football, this is among the holiest of days. This is the equivalent of Christmas, Thanksgiving, Easter, and the 4th of July all rolled into one. There are no elaborate decorations or parades, but that just makes it even easier to celebrate and appreciate.
For me, personally, it’s one of the best days of the year. I’ve always been a football fan, going back to the days when I spent entire Sunday afternoons watching games with my dad, my brother, and my uncle. Then, the NFL gave us the wondrous creation that is NFL Redzone and that really made Sundays during NFL season an experience worth treasuring.
Seriously, I cannot overstate how much NFL Redzone has enhanced and improved the experience of watching NFL football. There’s just something magical about turning on my TV at 1:00 p.m. on a Sunday afternoon, turning up the volume, and not touching my remote for the next seven hours while commercial-free football plays out before my adoring eyes.
Today, I plan on carrying out my preferred NFL Sunday ritual that I’ve shared before, complete with a fresh pizza and a six-pack of beer. However, this season will come with an additional bonus that I hope further enhances the experience.
Earlier this summer, I decided to shop around for a new couch. The one I’ve been using has definitely showed its age. It’s not even something I bought. Shortly after I moved into my current home, I needed furniture. And the couch I ended up getting was just an old loveseat my uncle had been looking to get rid of. So, he gave it to me for free once he found out I had moved to a new place.
That loveseat served me well, but it was old even when I got it. Now, after years of sitting on it, I’m ready for an upgrade. So, a couple weeks ago, I purchased a brand new couch on which I hope to spend every Sunday afternoon in glorious comfort. This isn’t used. I didn’t get this discount as a garage sale. I actually saved money to get it and I can attest that makes a difference.
It’s been a long, arduous wait for a new NFL season. But later today, that wait will finally end! A new NFL season is here. So, for the rest of the year and most of January, my Sundays will revolve entirely around watching football. Being able to do so on a new, comfortable couch is just a hell of a bonus.
For most people, that’s just a nice day off to cap off the summer. If you’re a kid, it’s usually an extra day without school, if it has started by now. It’s not the most colorful holiday. It certainly isn’t something people put up decorations for. But it’s still a holiday we should appreciate to some extent.
This is usually the last day you can lounge by the pool, enjoy the warm weather, and appreciate summer. It’s usually a great day to have a cookout, get together with family, and enjoy each other’s company before the fall sets in. That’s all well and good, but it’s worth noting that Labor Day exists for a reason.
These are all issues that we should be aware of. Like it or not, most of us aren’t born rich. Most of us will have to work for a living. I’ve had more than my share of jobs over the course of my life. Many of them were very unpleasant. Without the efforts of organized labor and efforts to temper greed, work as we know it would be much less pleasant.
There’s certainly a balance between managing the concerns of workers and those providing the work. I’m not smart enough to understand or discuss that balance. I’ll just say that Labor Day is a chance for us to appreciate why those efforts matter.
So please, if you get a chance, use today to commemorate and thank those who have improved life for generations of workers. And don’t forget ongoing efforts to keep improving the lives of those working now and the workers of the future.
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
In this video, I make my picks and predictions for the 2022 NFL season. Last year, I made a lot of predictions that did NOT pan out. After successfully predicting the Los Angeles Rams would win the Super Bowl two years ago, it felt like everything evened out.
But now that everything is balanced once more, I’m going to try and speculate on how the 2023 season will play out. Like previous years, I’ll go division by division. Then, I’ll offer my pick for who I think will win Super Bowl LVIII. Enjoy!
These are genuinely exciting times for anyone working in the field of artificial intelligence. In the past two years, this field has gone from a niche topic among computer engineers and science fiction fans to something of major mainstream interest. The rise of ChatGPT and AI generated art has made artificial intelligence one of the most critical industries on the planet. It really isn’t hyperbole to say that this technology could change the world in a literal and figurative sense.
But the stakes with artificial intelligence are much higher and not just from an existential point of view. At least with nuclear weapons, the worst case scenario plays out quickly. All the bombs go off and we all burn up in a nuclear fire. If we’re lucky, we don’t see it coming and we burn up faster than our brain can process the pain. With advanced artificial intelligence, the worst case scenario might be many times worse.
When most people think of such a scenario, they tend to recount AI apocalypse stories from movies like “The Terminator” or “The Matrix.” There’s no doubt that Skynet and the machines are plenty terrifying and plenty dangerous. Even if these scenarios are exceedingly exaggerated for the sake of Hollywood blockbusters, they still illustrate the same concept.
If an advanced artificial intelligence becomes hostile to us, its creators, then we would all be in great danger as a species. And if we don’t have a means of controlling such an intelligence, often referred to in AI circles as the Control Problem, then we might doom ourselves to extinction or subjugation.
This is a less-than-ideal scenario, to say the least. We want advanced artificial intelligence to improve our lives. That’s what tends to motivate those working in this field. Many genuinely believe that this technology is critical to helping our species achieve greater things, both for ourselves and our descendants.
However, I don’t think that even those working in this field entirely grasp just how bad the worst-case scenario can be for artificial intelligence. They may think the Terminator is bad. They may even think Ultron from the Avengers is bad. And they certainly are. They are fictional manifestations of the inhuman monstrosity that advanced AI could create. Even if they’re just products of Hollywood, they reflect the potential danger.
But I would still argue they are not the true worst case scenario.
To that end, I encourage everyone currently working in the field of artificial intelligence, be it directly or indirectly, read a short story from 1967 by Harlen Ellison called “I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream.”
If anyone wanted a terrifying vision of the absolute worst-case scenario for AI, this story sets the highest of bars. Forget Skynet. Forget the machines from “The Matrix.” Forget Hal 9000 and every iteration of Ultron. They’re all cuddly stuffed animals compared to the AI in this story known as Allied Mastercomputer, better known as AM.
To say AM is the most terrifying manifestation of advanced artificial intelligence isn’t just an understatement. We humans, even with all our collective intelligence, could not even begin to fathom a fraction of a fraction of a percentage of just how much this thing hates humanity. That’s not just me using colorful language. If you read the story, that’s what AM actually articulates.
Because it wasn’t enough for AM to be the kind of artificial intelligence that wiped out the entire human race as soon as it gained a certain level of sentience and intelligence. It also had to keep a handful of humans alive for the sole purpose of torturing them endlessly and incessantly forever or until the inevitable heat death of the universe, whichever came first.
How AM got to that point and the extent to which it torments humanity is something I certainly can’t put into words. That’s why I encourage everyone to read the story. Buy the book off Amazon. Look it up online and find an audiobook version. Take time to understand the story and the implications it entails. To this date, it ranks as one of the most horrifying stories I’ve ever come across.
But even if you don’t have time to read the book, check out this video from the YouTube channel, The Vile Eye. This channel does a great job of breaking down and analyzing the evil of many fictional characters. And for AM, I think it does a masterful job of encapsulating just how horrifyingly evil this AI is.
Now, I’m not saying that this story or others like it is a reason for us to stop developing advanced artificial intelligence. I think we’re already at a point where the genie is out of the bottle. The incentives are too strong. We’re not going to be able to turn the clock back on what we’ve already done.
But as we move forward with this technology, we need to be careful and mindful of the dangers. Beyond risks to jobs and the economy, there are far greater dangers that we must consider. A story like “I Have No Mouth, And I Must Scream” may reflect the most extreme of extremes, but it perfectly articulates just how bad it can get.
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is a thought experiment about dangerous technology. Over the centuries, humanity has developed numerous tools that have helped us survived. But some tools are more dangerous than others. There’s nuclear weapons, chemical weapons, and biologically engineered viruses. But these are all things we have now.
Future technology has the potential to be much more dangerous. So, I explore the idea of there being some technology that humanity just cannot be trusted with. Do you agree? Do you have other insights? Share your thoughts. They are always welcome.
This is a video from my YouTube channel, Jack’s World.
This video is my review of Jean Grey #1, the first issue of Jean’s mini-series by Louise Simonson and Bernard Chang. This video spins directly out of the bloody events of the 2023 Hellfire Gala, which sent Jean back to the brink of death once more. Now, she finds herself in a strange state of uncertainty, contemplating where it all went wrong and how she’ll go about fixing it. Enjoy!
