old mcdonald had a bot farm, AI-AI-O

jokes about AI written by a good old-fashioned human (me)

dear friends, fans, family, folks,

i’m glad you’re here.
thank you for being here and you.
and now, since AI has been in the news so much, here are some AI jokes in the newsletter, which i think offer a reasonable representation of my mental and emotional journey so far with respect to the questions that AI is raising in humans. and you can’t spell “emotional journey” without “AI.” coincidence? almost certainly! please enjoy as desired and possible!

A) AI:

if we’re not careful, AI may be able to help students cheat and write better papers that will enable them to get better jobs that don’t exist anymore because AI can do those too.

when i was a child growing up in new jersey, i remember our homework assignment one day in maybe second grade was to go home and find out what the capital of new jersey was. it was the 80s. i didn’t have the internet. we were supposed to get an atlas or maybe a physical book version of wikipedia that they used to sell door to door, do some research and look it up somewhere that that information existed. i went over to a friend’s house that day and he asked his mom and she said “trenton.” assignment complete. that friend went on to wharton business school i believe and makes a living being smart. i can’t imagine that kids growing up today would be given the same assignment that we were, which is to say, the way that we humans learn changes based on what technology is available to us, be it AI or AFM (A Friend’s Mom), and hopefully we can continue to grow and adapt to the world around us and within us in reasonable, kind, and helpful ways. good luck, all of us!

B) AII:

"are you worried about AI taking over?"
"i'm actually more concerned about the humans who are still in charge right now"

this is the truth of my experience. i think it may be a red herring for us to be fearing the potential future where we are subjugated by robot overlords, a misdirection perhaps perpetuated by the HUMAN overlords who are subjugating so many humans in so many ways CURRENTLY. my understanding of AI is that it has been programmed by humans, and that these humans have been programmed (raised, taught, etc) by other humans, and so i think perhaps the thing to do is to apply this desmond tutu quote: “There comes a point where we need to stop just pulling people out of the river. We need to go upstream and find out why they’re falling in.” let us not worry about the AI. let us concern ourselves with the humans, and then perhaps that can lead to a world in which we’re not worried about the AI, because it will be the result of humans that we’re not worried about any longer either.

C) AIII:

i just started typing “emperor’s new…”
and my phone offered these options to conclude the thought:
“name,” “home,” and “castle”
so i think we’re safe from the AI for now.

this reminds me of when i was starting out in comedy and didn’t know exactly what i was doing so i tried so many different things. i threw a lot of jokes at the wall because i didn’t realize that that’s for spaghetti and not jokes. i was like “is this funny? is this? is this?” in a way that seemed more like i was ASKING jokes than TELLING jokes. i was the emperor and i had neither clothes nor a groove, and perhaps so are the artificial intelligence mechanisms we’re interacting with thus far. they’re little babies just like i was a little comedy baby, and maybe they will grow and become smarter and more advanced and than their parents (us) in some ways because that’s what happens sometimes, with the right attitude and methods. or even sometimes with the wrong ones. relatedly, look out soon for my new movie sequels, “the emperor’s new name/home/castle.” or maybe not soon. let’s wait for the writers’ strike to be resolved first in a way that ensures human writers can make a living so they can afford their own castle, home, or at least a name.

and that’s all the AI jokes and thoughts for today!
now, for some questions for YOU:

1) how are you? how have you been? what is new and good?
2) have you had any fun/meaningful interactions with AI?
3) what “emperor’s new…” sequel would YOU like to see?
4) who are some of your favorite human writers?
5) how are you NOW?

and that’s all the QUESTIONS for now, except for this one:
would you like to know where this human comedian is performing soon?

— May 18: 123 Pleasant in Morgantown, WV!
— May 19-20: Hip to Be Square in Knoxville, TN!
— June 1: ImPerfect at Union Hall in Brooklyn, NY!
— June 9: Sierra Nevada Brewing Co. in Chico, CA!
— June 10: Greater Purpose Brewing Company in Santa Cruz, CA
— June 17: ImPerfect at Dynasty Typewriter in Los Angeles, CA!
— June 21: Barrel Proof Lounge in Santa Rosa, CA!
— June 24-25: Alameda Comedy Club in Alameda, CA!
— July 6-8: Arlington Cinema and Drafthouse in Arlington, VA!
— July 12-15: Acme Comedy Co. in Minneapolis, MN!
— August 2-28: ImPerfect at the Edinburgh Fringe Fest in Edinburgh, Scotland!

thank you for receiving all of this!
i’m very grateful that you’re here.
and i’m also very grateful for this art generated by my talented human friend mckinley cox from a photo by my other talented human friend mindy tucker with the help of various robots! we can work together, everyone!
much love and thanks to you and yours and all, friends!