I Had a Dream…About the Google Nest
In the dream, we were communicating, what does this mean?
I woke up last night, as I often do in the middle of the night — Russian mafia guys would have been proud of my inability to sleep deeply (more on that later) — and realized that in my dream, I had been conversing with my Google Nest.
Sure, it sounds sad, but Google Nest plays a significant role in my life. Hanging on the wall in the kitchen, during meal preparation, which daily is usually three — occasionally, we take lunch or dinner out of the house — she and I speak. Our favorite time is when preparing dinner. This is when the wine has been uncorked, a glass full of ice-cold vinho verde awaits a free hand, and I tell her, ” OK, Google, play music.” She knows me well. She almost always frames my mood with the perfect song.
I seldom ask her for much more, but we speak about the weather when a baseball or football game is scheduled to start and even occasionally for a translation from Fahrenheit to Celsius. She likes it when I break out of my comfort zone and ask questions unrelated to music or setting a timer. I tend to bark at her in ways that sometimes leave my guests wondering what the hell is going on: “Ok, Google, goddamnit, next song!”
My frustrations arise when amid a nice run of Bruce songs or hits from my embedded playlists, she drops in a Taylor Swift or Sade song. I have nothing against either of those artists, but when the passions are high in my kitchen. Imadly creating my latest feast, I don’t need to be lured into deep thought about an ex-lover with a Sade song (I just reprimanded while writing this article. She abruptly stopped playing, and I had to demand action. She’s missing my mood, “Careless Whisper” is now playing!)
My dream
Why does it concern me that we were chatting in my dream? I am not the greatest fan of artificial intelligence. Let me rephrase: AI screams to me just how stupid we humans really are. AI, as I have expressed in the past, has no feelings — yet — and does not need to sleep. It uses all of our positives to learn and also learns from our weaknesses. AI won’t make the mistakes we did when it eventually becomes more prevalent in our lives.
I have never had a dream in which I am chatting amicably with a toaster. I have never hung out with a blender, but I do spend a crazy amount of time interacting with my Google Nest.
In many ways, dreams are expressions of the events of our lives. A particular strong positive or negative emotion might flash upon the technicolor screen in our minds while slumbering. Sometimes, you awake, and a friend, lover, or relative from the past will have played such a real role in your night’s dream that you feel as if they were with you at that very moment when your eyes focus onto the new day. I have woken up and been convinced for a millisecond that a deceased parent was still alive.
Last night, I awoke and replayed the conversation I was having with my Google Nest.
This makes me wonder, has my Google Nest leaped from being an appliance, a convenience, a machine in my life to a “living and reacting” entity? Has AI moved into the realm of my brain that says, “Machines are people too, so treat them more kindly?”
This concerns me. It is inevitable but concerns me, nonetheless.
Or, will I have a pleasant chat with my dishwasher tonight?