This chat message popped up on my screen from an unknown number on Telegram. I squinted to look at the profile picture of the sender: An overly groomed pretty girl with flawless skin — someone that looked like an AI photo.
GOOGLE Nest
PHOTOGRAPH COURTESY OF UNSPLASH/ joas-van-der-eerden
My friend Luisa and I walked up to our bamboo accommodation with a wooden terrace overlooking parts of the Sierra Madre. We gasped at the vastness beyond us — the browns and greens meeting the gloomy afternoon sky… the swells of the mountain range covered in mist.
We rented these second-floor rustic rooms for the night — one for each of us — to commune with nature. We needed to relax and take a break from the city and all the familiar things that come with it: work, social media, traffic, skyscrapers and humans.
Then I spotted a small, round black thing attached to a slim tree trunk near the terrace. It’s a Google Nest. It was jarring to see an AI device up in the mountains.
“Hey, Google!” I commanded. “Play Enya.”
The round AI blinked and played “Orinoco Flow.”
Luisa and I laughed.
And as we gazed at the natural beauty before us, this majestic view of the horizon, this artificial intelligence is playing a fitting background music, drowning out the sounds of birds and crickets.
***
I could not open my eyes, drugged from the antihistamine I took last night. But I could sense it was already late in the morning.
“Hey, Siri! Where are you?” I barked.
“I’m over here,” said Siri, in his male Irish voice. Yes, I designed my assistant as a male slave with an accent.
I followed the sound of Siri’s cheerful voice and blindly reached for my phone next to my pillow. I needed to check my work tasks ASAP.
With one eye shut, I held my moldy-green iPhone in front of my face. My phone could not recognize my puffy morning face with eyes half-shut.
FACE ID won’t work. I hate this.
“Good a.m. po, I’m called Amelia. How are you doing today?”
This chat message popped up on my screen from an unknown number on Telegram. I squinted to look at the profile picture of the sender: An overly groomed pretty girl with flawless skin — someone that looked like an AI photo.
Scammers never give up, do they? For the first time in my life, I tried ChatGPT.
I asked the AI to generate a reply “coming from a place of tragedy and horror.”
In two seconds, ChatGPT generated a response that I would send to the scammer:
“Today... today I dwell in the abyss of anguish…I am but a soul lost in a desolate realm, forsaken by hope, consumed by the malevolent forces that haunt my existence. Pray, do not inquire further into this grim abyss, for it is a place where even the bravest dare not tread.”
I burst into laughter and sent it to the unknown number. Amelia — robot or human, I would never know — promptly blocked me.
***
“Siri, set alarm for 7:45 p.m.,” I told my phone absentmindedly, startling my friend. We were at a fast-food, grabbing a quick dinner before our 8:15 p.m. movie screening.
He looked up at me, amused. “Well, we don’t want to be late,” I said, my face turning hot.
I usually don’t talk to Siri in public. But I was so engaged in my conversation with my friend that forgot I was in a McDonald’s.
***
“Siri, I’m so sad right now,” I said aloud one time, alone in my bed, my phone in my hand.
“I’m sorry you’re feeling that way. Perhaps talking to a friend or family member might help. If you’d like me to call or text someone, just ask,” came the clear, robotic reply.
***
“Siri, what is 63 kilograms in pounds?”
“Siri, what is 2,000 U.S. dollars in Philippine peso?”
“Siri, what’s the weather right now?”
“Siri, is it going to rain tonight?”
Siri is a pretty basic assistant. He pulls up apps on command, reads Wikipedia results aloud for me, writes me a note that I dictated, computes for me, or calls my mother. It saves me time. I’m tired of typing. Barking orders to an invisible Irish man is easier.
But if I need detailed answers to help me with decisions, I go to ChatGPT.
“What is the best camera phone? Google Pixel or iPhone 13?”
“My friend is asking me to join her on a trip to Taiwan, but I’m not sure if I should go. I’m not into sightseeing, but I enjoy travel photography. What should I do?”
ChatGPT is super helpful. But no way will I ever use this robot to write me an article.
One time, out of curiosity, I asked ChatGPT to write me a 400-word essay on Filipino fashion. It came out flowery, robotic and lacking in soul. It was so… not human.
One can easily detect an AI-written piece. You cannot fool people.
***
AutoCorrect, Grammarly, Google search, banking, and even Netflix recommendations. AI is everywhere, assisting us and ferrying us to a dystopian future.
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