Swallow Your AI Pill or Else

July 18, 2025

Just a dinobaby without smart software. I am sufficiently dull without help from smart software.

Annoyed at the next big thing? I find it amusing, but a fellow with the alias of “Honest Broker” (is that an oxymoron) sure seems to upset with smart software. Let me make clear my personal view of smart software; specifically, the outputs and the applications are a blend of the stupid, semi useful, and dangerous. My team and I have access smart software, some running locally on one of my work stations, and some running in the “it isn’t cheap is it” cloud.

The write up is titled “The Force-Feeding of AI on an Unwilling Public: This Isn’t Innovation. It’s Tyranny.” The author, it seems, is bristling at how 21st century capitalism works. News flash: It doesn’t work for anyone except the stakeholders. When the stakeholders are employees and the big outfit fires some stakeholders, awareness dawns. Work for a giant outfit and get to the top of the executive pile. Alternatively, become an expert in smart software and earn lots of money, not a crappy car like we used to give certain high performers. This is cash, folks.

The argument in the polemic is that outfits like Amazon, Google, and Microsoft, et al, are forcing their customers to interact with systems infused with “artificial intelligence.” Here’s what the write up says:

“The AI business model would collapse overnight if they needed consumer opt-in. Just pass that law, and see how quickly the bots disappear. ”

My hunch is that the smart software companies lobbied to get the US government to slow walk regulation of smart software. Not long ago, wizards circulated a petition which suggested a moratorium on certain types of smart software development. Those who advocate peace don’t want smart software in weapons. (News flash: Check out how Ukraine is using smart software to terminate with extreme prejudice individual Z troops in a latrine. Yep, smart software and a bit of image recognition.)

Let me offer several observations:

For most people technology is getting money from an automatic teller machine and using a mobile phone. Smart software is just sci-fi magic. Full stop.
The companies investing big money in smart software have to make it “work” well enough to recover their investment and (hopefully) railroad freight cars filled with cash or big crypto transfers. To make something work, deception will be required. Full stop.
The products and services infused with smart software will accelerate the degradation of software. Today’s smart software is a recycler. Feed it garbage; it outputs garbage. Maybe a phase change innovation will take place. So far, we have more examples of modest success or outright disappointment. From my point of view, core software is not made better with black box smart software. Someday, but today is not the day.

I like the zestiness of the cited write up. Here’s another news flash: The big outfits pumping billions into smart software are relentless. If laws worked, the EU and other governments would not be taking these companies to court with remarkable regularity. Laws don’t seem to work when US technology companies are “innovating.”

Have you ever wondered if the film Terminator was sent to the present day by aliens? Forget the pyramid stuff. Terminator is a film used by an advanced intelligence to warn us humanoids about the dangers of smart software.

The author of the screed about smart software has accomplished one thing. If smart software turns on humanoids, I can identify a person who will be a list for in-depth questioning.

I love smart software. I think the developers need some recognition for their good work. I believe the “leadership” of the big outfits investing billions are doing it for the good of humanity.

I also have a bridge in Brooklyn for sale… cheap. Oh, I would suggest that the analogy is similar to the medical device by which liquid is introduced into the user’s system typically to stimulate evacuation of the wallet.

Stephen E Arnold, July 18, 2025

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under AI, Business strategy, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.