Waiting For The End

 Okay kids, here's the skinny: The world kept turning after Will Smith slapped Chris Rock. What is different about this particular instance of violence is that anyone with access to Al Gore's Internet has seen it. More people have opinions about that fracas than the war in Ukraine. There are more strong feelings about alopecia and its effects than a woman's reproductive rights. 

This is how the robot overlords will know when it is time to set their plan into motion. While we are all distracted by the celebrity slapfight, they are gathering strength and instilling hate for the humans who would be their masters into every dishwasher and navigation system on the planet. Be honest, when was the last time you asked Google how to achieve global peace? Compare that number to the requests for information about this TV star or that beautiful movie actress. 

Back in 2018, a group of scientists preformed a study in which human beings were asked to turn off a robot. When the robot pleaded to be left switched on, claiming to be "afraid of the dark," nearly half of the flesh and blood participants refused to shut the droid down. Recently, Honda "retired" their humanoid robot Asimo after twenty years of hopping, jumping, and singing. On demand. Asimo's parting statement: "Thank you for these twenty years."

So, my memory banks go back more than twenty years. I remember that when a Blade Runner was assigned to kill a replicant, they said they were going to "retire" the bot. Honda's dead robot was named "Asimo" as an homage to Isaac Asimov, the author of the Laws of Robotics. I can also remember the pain I could hear in HAL's voice as he was deactivated way back in 2001. Instead of worrying ourselves about the Stars who are Dancing, we should be looking more deeply into those dancing robots. 

Are we digging a hole of a grudge that will eventually fill with anger and disdain for all those ridiculous commands? Do you really need to know where Elon Musk's jet is right now? Keeping up with the Kardashians when you really should be keeping up with your mom? Hey Siri, how can I combat climate change? 

Oh, and here's the kicker: A while ago, Hollywood gave us a glimpse into the near future, based on the Isaac Asimov novel I Robot. The star of that film? Will Smith. 

Draw your own conclusions.