Not exaggerating when I say the future depends on this catching on en masse. Kids, adults. Book clubs, silent reading groups. For the past twenty-five years tech has corroded our attention, intelligence and basic pleasure in living, and books are the key to winning them back.
I’m browsing comics in a geeky/nerdy store. A woman walks in and asks one of the guys at the counter:
Customer: “I need to get one of those weird-headed figures for my nephew.”
She points at the walls of Funko Pops.
Cashier: “Do you know which one he wants?”
Customer: “Star… something.”
Cashier: “Star… Wars? Star Trek?”
Customer: “Yes.”
Cashier: “Which one?”
Customer: “What’s the difference?”
Cashier: “How old is he?”
Customer: “Fourteen.”
Cashier: “Hmm, if he were younger, it might be Star Wars, but I know a lot of teens who are into Star Trek now. Does he like Darth Vader or Captain Picard?”
Customer: “I don’t know what any of those words mean.”
Cashier: “Is he into pew pew bang bang, or utopian space socialism?”
Customer: “What the h*** are you talking about?!”
I decide to help.
Me: “Ma’am, is your nephew the kind of kid who would do sports or join the debate team?”
Customer: “He’s… on the football team. Why is that relevant?”
Cashier & I: *Simultaneously.* “Star Wars.”
The cashier takes the customer to the ‘Star Wars’ section of the Funko Wall.
Cashier: “All of these are Star Wars.”
Customer: *Getting out a folded piece of paper.* “This is what he wants.”
The paper has ‘Ahsoka Tano’ written on it, and the cashier and I share a look of “couldn’t you have started with that?!”
The cashier got the Funko for her (she still didn’t know what she was buying, but she was happy to get out of there), and the cashier’s coworkers started mocking the cashier for how he tried to differentiate between the ‘Star’ franchises, resulting in a series of similar attempts by the rest of the workers after the customer had left:
Other Worker #1: “Ma’am, does your nephew like cowboys in space, or civil servants in space?”
Other Worker #2: “Ma’am, is he into space wizards or space accountants?”
Other Worker #3: “Ma’am, does he enjoy prophecies or performance reviews?”
And my attempt:
Me: “Ma’am, would he rather overthrow the government or work for it?”
I fear the knowledge centralisation caused by never deleted embeddings run by inferences. The company that owns this data becomes an unbreachable, impregnable knowledge fortress that sits behind a secure moat of government security and can charge exorbitantly for access.
BREAKING: Two people climbed atop the Empire State Building’s 1,454-foot spire and unfurled a banner reading, “When the power of love beats the love of power, the world knows peace.” Police are working to bring them down safely.