alarm clocks

 i am currently in college and this summer break, when i came home, i found that my mother had put an alarm clock on the windowsill besides my bed

as to why she did this, i do not know 

i could just ask her, she's literally right downstairs 

but i would rather keep it a mystery

anywho, i was examining this new piece of clockwork and i discovered a button that, when pressed, turns on a little light that illuminates the clock face 

(discovered is probably too strong a word

it's the only button on the whole clock 

and it's quite large)

but this button, and the button's function, got me thinking 

here is a piece of technology that has a clear purpose and that purpose solves a problem and makes the owner of the clock's life easier 

with the rise of AI and the push to innovate for the sake of innovation, I wish that we could slow down and take a second to reflect 

i don't want AI to write my emails, i can do that perfectly well 

i don't want AI to tell me what songs i listened to and what this means about me, i can remember perfectly fine 

i don't want to go to the movies and watch a scene generated by AI, i want to watch what my fellow humans have poured their souls into

i think we've gotten to a point where we are no longer asking how we can make our lives better through technological innovation 

we've gotten to a point where we simply ask 'can we find the limit of what we can do with modern technology?' 

and this limit has a severe cost 

the bees are dying 

weather is getting more extreme 

our air is getting grosser and grosser 

all while tech billionaires try to scoop up whatever remaining farm land there is in order to build more water-consuming data centers 

i don't want AI to drink the earth's water, i need to drink the earth's water 

innovation has brought us many betterments (that's a word, right?)

such as the ability to know what time it is when you wake up in the middle of the night without having to turn on an overhead light by pressing a button that illuminates your alarm clock's face

but this so called 'innovation' that is bringing us AI is a true threat to us and the world we live in 

it's not inevitable if we just don't use it; think for yourself, don't outsource your intelligence 

xoxo 

Koala Butterfly