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Maybe you are like me and haven't quite grasped the concept of Artificial Intelligence, also known as AI.
I've been hearing a lot about the concept but never gave it much thought until the other day when some scientists warned AI could pose a serious threat to our existence.
How could something that is manmade turn into a thinking, judgmental thing that could wipe humans off the face of the earth? Then at about 4:30 in the morning, I heard the toilet in the bathroom of our home kick on and off for a few seconds.
My husband says it's a plumbing issue that can be remedied with some new parts and that the toilet tank must have a small leak.
This causes it to run and refill the tank with water when necessary. But who or what told the toilet to do that. AI, of course.
Think about all the things in our homes that operate solely at their own discretion. Ice makers in the fridge turn on and off as ice is needed.
The clothes dryer continues to spin when needed to prevent wrinkles during the drying cycle.
Sure I understand that these things are only possible because humans devised these systems and programmed them to work a certain way.
But where does the human factor end and AI take over?
It scares me that Siri and Alexa and our cellphones are listening and digesting everything we say and do.
They turn our words into invitations to unsolicited ads for anything and everything AI believes we would be interested in buying.
Does AI listen to and digest our political leanings? Does AI want to influence us in another direction?
I'm beginning to wonder as I see so many online and in-print political rants.
For those of us old enough to remember the original "Twilight Zone" television show, rest assured we were first introduced to AI in 1964.
The "Twilight Zone" episode titled "From Agnes, With Love" tells the story of a computer that exhibits strange and overpowering feelings of love for the male computer operator.
The story doesn't end well.
The episode was meant to be funny. Somehow I can't find anything to laugh about as Agnes' family of AI has certainly evolved since the 1960s.
I hope to sleep better once we fix the toilet, but I will keep an eye and ear out for that creepy AI.
Heather Ziegler can be reached via email at hziegler@theintelligencer.net.