The Year Of Magical Thinking

 A/k/a “magic”:

Attorney Arthur Aidala defended federal employee firings under Donald Trump's administration during a CNN appearance on Saturday morning, but angered his fellow panelists after he was confronted with America's veterans also seeing their jobs taken away which he blew off.

Seated next to CNN conservative S.E. Cupp, the attorney attempted to make the case that the Elon Musk-headed Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was doing Americans a favor by getting rid of thousands of jobs and replacing them with AI and computers that he claimed will be more efficient.

First, what does this guy know about computers or AI?

Because he’s talking like they are magical devices that do what…somebody wants, and never more than that. Might I recommend a course of study in the literature of “deals with the devil,” where the devil is always in the details and the deal is never what you think it is. Because you only think of the outcome you want, and never take into account consequences or how what you said is not exactly what you meant.

And computers, like the devil in the stories, are remarkably literal.

The old computer programming acronym for this is GIGO: Garbage In, Garbage Out. You can’t always tell what garbage went in, so you have to check for garbage coming out. AI can simulate understanding (at least to some people), but AI cannot understand. Nor can it answer the phone and deal with people who do not speak clearly enough for it. Like, you know, old people trying to get information. Or just human beings in general. I’ve had enough experience with computers screening calls in order to save money on human beings answering phones. It never ends without waiting for the damned computer to finally transfer me to an actual person.

The concomitant magical thinking is that if we make it harder to rely on government services, people will quit relying on government services. It’s the same magical thinking that angry people at town halls are all Democrats (we discard them). And then we can finally convince people that government is bad!

As long as we get it done before 2026!  Maybe we can deport all the Democrats by then… 🤔