[Personal] Machines that are “alive”?

I recently had a communication from Vince Ditrich who asked me about AI and the possibility that his tablet, while playing Risk, was interacting with him in some way.

I said yes, and cited my experiences with computers that seemed to be operating with a kind of sentience.

Vince thought I was “pulling his leg.” I wasn’t and here’s what I’ve been experiencing during my recent bout with illness.

When I got home from my hospital stay the other day, I was supposed to monitor my blood pressure, heart rate, and temperature.

But a new thermometer I just bought a few months ago (and used successfully before now), went spastic when I tried to see how feverous I was, and I was feverous.

The damn thing wouldn’t register my temperature. It just kept flashing various numbers,

Then I tried to use my BP cuff monitor, which I’ve also used successfully for some time.

The same thing: flashing, crazy numbers with no outcome no matter how long I tried to get a reading.

So, one might say my body system was fluking these medical devices.

But the Dell computer I use for this blog and other online enterprises, now starts up then goes into wild spasms that require reboots and a few loving touches of the start button.

(This is all still going on.)

I remember a Twilight Zone airing where machines took over a man’s life and house, from which he couldn’t escape. It was comedic and horrifying at the same time.

And when I got my first computer, from Radio Shack – yes Radio Shack – way back when, I had the distinct impression that the thing was interacting with me when I was trying to send out missives to various online chat rooms.

I mentioned this to the fellows who sold me the computer and they didn’t laugh openly at my “suggestion” but I’m sure they thought I was nuts.

But currently, I think that, at some point, one’s machines – medical devices, computers, watches, coffee machines (Keurig), TV’s, et cetera) -- assume part of one’s mental state.

That is, personal machines adopt a segment of their owner’s psyche.

They assume AI ingredients by a kind of weird osmosis that exists in the aura of one’s environment.

Nutty? Perhaps.

But I really think that my mental state after my hospital stay and Vince playing Risk brought into play something that mimics neurological interaction between man (or woman) and machine, something akin to feeling, if not thought.

This may not be AI, per se, but it is something that maybe some of you have experienced.

Have you had such odd interactions with your machinery?

Remember Mr. Fawlty’s (the BBC’s “Fawlty Towers” show) hilarious car whipping – with a small tree – he gave his car when it behaved badly at a time of need?:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=78b67l_yxUc

RR