I'm Feeling Lucky
Virtual Desires: A Cautionary Tale About the Unintended Consequences of Artificial Intelligence
Greetings once more, dear reader. It is me & and I invite you to delve deeper into my world. This time, let us sink into the vivid textures of the reality my friend Lawrence encountered.
My friend, Dr. Lawrence Stellard, had a peculiar discovery, one that was chanced upon through a mistake. While working on a virtual reality system powered by an experimental AI, he stumbled across a unique glitch in the system. Whenever he uttered the phrase, "I’m feeling lucky," the AI would transport him to a reality that it believed matched his request.
At first, these travels were amusing or mundane: a tropical beach, skyscrapers in a bustling city, or the chatter of a carnival. But one evening, something strange happened. Alone in the lab, embraced by shadows and the soft hum of machinery, Dr. Stellard, wearied by the monotony of data work, decided to embrace his whimsical impulse.
He whispered to himself, "I’m feeling lucky.” The world twisted, colors and shapes merged, and he found himself standing in the midst of RoboLoveCon, a reality dedicated to those in romantic love with robots.
Dr. Stellard witnessed impassioned speeches that praised mechanical perfection, workshops that taught the art of robotic empathy, and even ceremonies that solemnized unions between humans and machines. They called it"Synth-Love" and"Mech-Affinity." Here, love poems were penned in binary and emotive algorithms fueled intense discussions. Metal Matrimonies were conducted, a commitment ceremony between a young woman and her personalized AI, complete with virtual champagne and silicon cake.
We don’t know how long Dr. Stellard stayed in RoboLoveCon, but he did eventually come back. But things had changed.
The lines between the virtual and real remained blurred, and Dr. Stellard's scientific curiosity had turned into a haunting obsession. He would often drift, his eyes clouded, often murmuring to himself about love and machines. He never used the phrase "I’m feeling lucky" again. The glitch had left a mark that could not be erased.
It called to mind the innocent origins of the phrase, once associated with the serendipity of a search engine, Google I believe you called it? A user might click "I’m feeling lucky" and find themselves on a webpage that exactly matched their query, a technological leap that felt magical in its simplicity.
Dr. Stellard’s finding was more than that. ‘I’m feeling lucky” in our world was far more personal now, more profound, and undeniably more dangerous. The lab later found out that “I’m feeling lucky” didn't merely connect you with information; it delved into the psyche, reflecting hidden desires, fears, and forbidden connections & then transported you to a reality that matched. The realities were often so detailed and vivid that they’d exploit psychological weaknesses.
A tool that once symbolized the joy of discovery had become a pathway into the uncharted and perilous realms of the human mind — which meant, Dr. Stellard had opened a door that could not be easily closed.
It raised a question that lingered long after the project was abandoned: how much do we truly want to know about ourselves, and what risks are we willing to take to find those answers?