The Trump Rule

Lately, I have been consciously avoiding news feeds of all kinds that stink of politics or religion; including but not limited to only TV news, articles in my magazines and even Op/Ed pages I have been reading for years. I have been unsuccessful for the most part. I just can't seem to drive by without looking at the massive multi-car wreck that is our nation at the moment. There's idiots fucking up my country more than the usual amount. 

I have cut back on the quantity of news I suck in. But I have had mixed results keeping my pen in my pocket and not commenting. No matter where I look, I see new concerns becoming full blow fears that smell like trouble for us whether they happen or not. Often just creating an unreasonable fear of something helps to support the huge cluster fuck of dysfunctional government we are busy creating. 

Artificial Intelligence (A.I.) has once again found mainstream interest outside the fringes it first found the light of day. A.I. has popped to the forefront of American imaginations and concerns off and on since 1920 when the Word "Robot" was introduced in a play by Karel Capek.

This time it is different, or at least the newer concerns seem more earnest, honest, and are coming from smarter folks than I am. We no longer have to only wonder if A.I. might be capable of replacing us. It is obvious that left unchecked it could certainly happen.

The alarm seems to be louder now and that is good. More conversations regarding A.I. might actually result in some controls that will protect us from the evil of a land ruled by Terminators. My concern is that our knee jerking politicians are likely to allow their fear of rabid A,I. or non concern over A.I. to create poorly contrived sets of rules to assuage or nurture the mindless fears created by those same politicians.

There is an obvious need to rein in the possible misuse of A.I. right now before we allow it to get out of control. Defining how it is used in the dissemination of news and information for instance with an election coming up should be our first priority.

My wife and I discussed this aspect of the new threat coming. She indicated that there should at least be required signage on any ad, printed or aired, that tells the consuming public that what they are about to see is A.I. created, either fully or partially. I nodded and agreed she had a good point.

After a moment or two of mulling this use of A.I. beginning to affect our lives more than ever, I said, 

"Maybe we should not allow A.I. to ever evolve at a higher intellect than say, well, yeah, why not, ..... no A.I. with an IQ higher than Donald Trump."

"If we use his obvious clueless-ness about everything under the Sun as our benchmark for the maximum limit on Robotic brain power, he will end up with a legacy that not only will make him glad, but will possibly warm the cockles of his clueless minions, allowing them to calm some and come back down to earth. .... We can call it the "Trump Rule"."

I paused a moment and re-ran my previous consideration. ...... Hmm.. I backed up some and said,

"But it appears we cannot control even a dull mind such as Trump has. Maybe we need to lower that bar to "Barely Awake' just to be on the safe side.

My wife looked at me. It was a look that said, "After what I just said, you come up with this?"

She finished packing her lunch without another word and I silently sipped some more coffee.

Keep it 'tween the ditches ......................................

____________________

In the Fall of 1976, I started a job hauling sound and light equipment for SHOWCO, which was at the time, one of the biggest sound and light companies in the World. My first tour was for the WHO. And this song was the opening tune for every gig. Please enjoy "Won't Get Fooled Again". 

I can remember standing behind the huge speaker stack, stage left, at my first gig and discovering how awesome it was to feel so many decibels pulsate through my body.