Chapter 34. Minimum Viable Curiosity
I was in San Francisco a few weeks ago and exclusively used Waymo for the entire trip. My biggest complaint? I needed to walk four minutes to a pickup spot. Other than that, the car just showed up, traversed the city’s streets easily, and the cost was reasonable. Sitting in the back seat watching the robot drive through San Francisco, I realized I was at ease with the machine taking me hither and fro. I’ve been on more than 20 such rides, and I think robots can drive a car in a crowded city.
I am dissatisfied when I ask a robot to write something for me. The writing has no life, no flair. It’s repeating patterns the robot was trained on, and the result is a pretty good imitation, but the voice is tinny and robotic. Anyone exploring AI has a similar experience: they test the robot on topics where they are the expert and quickly find it’s not creative but is impressively derivative. No art, no flair.
The point: for a whole class of tasks—job loss aside—I am fine with robots doing the job with absolutely no flair. I need the job done safely, efficiently, and reliably. Every time. I require no flair for a car taking me from point A to point B. I want no pomp and circumstance. The perfect ride is one I forget immediately because nothing interesting happens.
The Trap
Problem is, I like driving. Her name is Audrey. She’s a black Porsche 718, and I love driving her. We zip around the small winding roads of the Santa Cruz Mountains. I like the feel ...
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