The photo on the home page shows the headline above a recent story in The Times, which suggested that artificial intelligence (AI) could be applied to identify, for example, children who might be more likely than others to be induced into a life of crime so that steps might be taken to stop that happening. In theory I guess it sounds like a great idea. On the other hand, it has to be said there have been some teething problems with some aspects of AI and one doesn’t have to be the world’s most eager conspiracy theorist to fear this could be a first step on the road to some Orwellian-type nightmare whereby 2030 becomes a real-life 1984.
On the other side of the Atlantic, a recent story in the New York Times noted that “Trump administration policy changes, including two regulatory rollbacks, along with Medicare’s new AI experiment are raising some worrisome questions about health care for older people”. So the opportunities, or threats, are all over the place. It’s a serous matter for serious times. But this is a blog about ‘fantasy’, so let’s introduce an element of comparative humorousness. Also, depending on your point of view, of salaciousness.
There was a piece in Private Eye last summer regarding what had been contemporary stories in the Sun and Daily Mail which were highly critical of OnlyFans, the online platform best-known for displaying pornographic content. The Eye pointed out this “prurience” was at odds with the antics of at least one contributor to both titles, who boasted about being a “mattress actress” on OnlyFans. And good luck to her! Because the advent of AI has introduced a world in which the wonders of technology mean that it’s now possible to create, for an online audience, a woman who does indeed look to be good to be true – because she isn’t real. Maybe they will one day be forced to rename the site OnlyFakes?
Of course, porn is no new phenomenon. In Martin Amis’s scintillating novel, Money, published in 1984, no less (a serious coincidence there!), his protagonist, John Self, talks of sticking 28 tokens into a slot machine in order to watch a sexual scenario unfold. “Then she knelt in front of him. One thing was clear: the cowboy must have spent at least six chaste months on a yoghurt ranch eating nothing but ice cream and buttermilk…by the time he was through, Juanita looked like the patsy in the custard-pie joke, which I suppose is what she was. Hard to tell, really, who was the biggest loser in this complicated transaction – her, him, them, me.”
For sure, in the coming years the biggest losers in this won’t be the creators of the AI adventurers.