AI is NOT taking over the world, next hopeful installment

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Artificial Intelligence is NOT taking over the world, next hopeful installment: I set out this week to walk 100 km from Aix to Arles and keep my eye out for things that we Do NOT Need AI for. Today I saw the vestiges of Roman Aqueducts. Marvels of engineering and survey measurement and construction done without computers, without satellites, without aliens. Just with good old human brain and brawn. I strolled down the Aurelian Way, a path that's been there since Emperor Aurelian, and I met lovely, delightful people, ones who take the time to be curious, witty, and wise. I sat beside a gaggle of 5 old ladies at a café in a small, ancient town called "Old Fountain" - Fontvielle. Their eyes were sparkly and they were curious about everything. One saw me reading the town map (with historical bits conveniently translated in 4 languages) so she came over to recommend all the best spots in the area. Nimes, Arles, les Baux, the Camargue… She didn't tell me to just go google it. She was ready with her human intelligence, her life experience, to tell me, with stories, why I would want to go to each place. So much better than Google. She took a reciprocal bit of data back to the table -- the new person in the cafe was from Canada. Much excited discussion ensued (having walked 27 km the day before and 8 that morning to beat a rainstorm, I was a little too dopey to engage with their vivacity, but I enjoyed at a distance). Then another lady came over to tell me about her daughter who moved to Montreal. She was more interested in sharing her story than in gathering data, but after she returned to the table, a third broke from the ranks to come try lifting my backpack to test its heft. (Approx. 88% of people I passed in 88 km leading to the cafe have said some variation of "You sure are loaded there!" and "I guess you're set to go far packed like that.") Without artificial intelligence, just good old HUMAN discussion intelligence, the people here are all interested in people who walk their paths. They either have knowledge from personally having done it, or, they have quizzed dozens of people like me over the years about it. Could AI do this better than the locals who are so dedicated to understanding other human beings? Not a chance. The give and take, the bonhomie, the sheer fun of the thing... AI doesn't do any of that. Another one came over to ask what I do for work and when I said I was a writer, she went back triumphantly to the table to say, “aha, see! She’s curious about everything and she’s a writer! Told you.” Every tidbit of information they got from me led to a flurry of discussion… because life is a puzzle, a delightful puzzle, and it's our joy and our delight to use our intelligence to collect all the bits of information and wisdom and put them together. Being an Intelligent Human is a joy. It's a joy! And a pastime, and fun. Don't give all your fun over to a robot. Enjoy the love of thinking as much as those ladies do. Engage in life.

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