A place for garbage

Re: Spruce-up spree sweeps through downtown (April 15)

Much is being said about the garbage and dirt that is visible on Winnipeg’s streets now that the snow is gone. I am glad to see that efforts are being made to clean up what has been revealed.

However, some of that garbage would not be on the streets had there been receptacles for it.

There is a great scene in a recent episode of the HBO Max comedy Hacks, in which comedian Deborah Vance (Jean Smart), takes a meeting with a Tech Bro who wants her to train an LLM (large language model) in her style of comedy so that people can write funnier bridesmaid speeches, essentially. Her collaborator/head writer Ava Daniels (Hannah Einbinder) has reservations.

“AI is here and it’s here to stay, so you either get on board or you get left in the past,” the Tech Bro tells her.

“See, that is a big part of why I hate it, this forced inevitability,” Ava responds. “People like you are always saying, ‘It’s happening whether you like it or not,’ but you’re the ones making it happen.”

Ding, ding, ding. “Forced inevitability” is exactly it, and it’s the thing I hate about it, too.

I don’t want it.

I know this is going to sound a lot like “old man shakes fist at clouds,” but I don’t want it.

Nor do I need it.

The Samsung Bespoke AI refrigerator uses the internet, the cloud and Google AI to precisely identify the food it’s chilling inside. You can use in-fridge cameras to show you on your phone what’s in there while you’re at the grocery store, in case you’ve forgotten to make a list. A voice-command door opener saves wear and tear on your hands. It can, apparently, make you “classic cubed ice, crushed ice, chewable Ice Bites™, or slow-melting Sphere Ice™.”