I was reminded this morning that the first successful U.S. launch of a satellite into space took place on January 31, 1958, only a few months after my fourth birthday. Not quite three weeks before my fourth birthday, the Soviet Union launched the first satellite into space, Sputnik 1. The Soviets’ unexpected success in being first into space spurred the U.S. to accelerate its efforts. The U.S. satellite was launched only 27 days after Sputnik 1 fell back to Earth. I find it hard to believe that I would remember either launch, but I have vague memories either of the launches or of hearing conversations about the accomplishments sometime thereafter. The more I think about this matter, though, the more I think my recollections are real memories, rather than false memories created through later conversations.
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Speaking of memories, I think I’ve spent most of my life misplacing them. Whether I left them unattended in a library or forgot to take them off the hood of my car when I drove off, many of them—most of them—simply disappeared and I have been unable to recover them. I envy people who remember lengthy periods of their childhoods, but I think I’d rather remember meaningful moments from early adulthood through the present. Unfortunately, my brain rarely records a permanent record of my thoughts or my experiences. I know of some of my earlier thoughts and experiences, but it is a rarity for me to feel that the memory is mine; instead, it’s as if I recall witnessing someone else’s experience. This preoccupation with nonexistent memories has been with me for a long time—evidence that I remember being disappointed in my inability to remember. I have written brief notes about this for quite some time. I wonder whether I have some form of amnesia or whether the affliction is indicative of progressive memory loss. Or just a natural circumstance that just happens to impact me to a greater extent than it tends to affect other people.
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Believing one’s eyes is no longer a reliable route to reality, thanks in large part to artificial intelligence (AI). AI can create images that appear stunningly real but are, in fact, fake. The internet is awash in AI-created “photographs” and “videos” that convincingly manipulate the viewer’s vision and brain. That deception has become so commonplace that actual original images often are assumed to be—and are labeled as—fakes. In the hands of people with refined expertise in directing AI’s abilities, those talents can cause doubt and confusion. In the hands of “average” people who are both competent and have malevolent intent, AI can lead to all manner of nefarious consequences. AI’s can manipulate not only images, but sounds, computer calculations, and a thousand other things. Security systems, cars, temperature control thermostats, translation services…the list may be endless…can be controlled by or through AI. Under the direction of controlling governmental authorities, AI has the capacity to unleash catastrophic results. Until reliable mechanisms are available to identify AI-crafted fakes, the only weapons against AI’s unsavory potentials are crude, indeed: checking multiple sources (the reliability of which may, unfortunately, be doubtful) to learn whether a suspected AI product can be verified…or protected against. In the interim, a healthy skepticism may be the only defense against AI manipulation.
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When Trump threatened Colombia with massive tariffs in response to its government’s refusal to allow military planes carrying undocumented immigrants from the U.S. to land in the country, Columbia missed an opportunity. My thought was that Columbia could make immediate overtures to Russia and its companion states, offering open trade of Colombian and Russian, etc. goods. Whether the offer would be accepted, and the speed with which it could be implemented, is unknown, it might have sent a message that would be more favorable to Colombia than did the country’s instant capitulation. However, the size of the trade imbalance between the US and Colombia is such that Colombia’s switch to open trade with Russia might not have had the impact I would have expected. Trump is not a believer in the principle that negotiations should maximize benefits for all parties; his attitude seems to be “win at all costs,” which unfortunately pairs well with his undeserved macho self-image.
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I’ve forgotten more than I ever knew.
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Signing up for a funeral plan is like getting engaged to be buried. I do not wish to be buried, so the engagement is off. By the way, cats do not bark.
