A bus rumbled by me on 19th Avenue the other day with the words "STOP HIRING HUMANS" emblazoned on the side. I both chuckled and cringed. And then got a little depressed about the fact that some of my fellow humans came up with the anti-human ad campaign.
On a recent walk to the grocery store, I passed a doctor's office with a huge banner hanging in front: "NOW OFFERING THE SKINNY SHOT."
Stop hiring humans, because they are messy, and flawed, and problematic, and you have to take time to work with them. You have to consider their humanity and their propensity to make mistakes. Bypass all of that inconvenience by using AI instead. Skip right over the time and energy it takes to give feedback, hold someone accountable, receive feedback yourself, and wait for sometimes slow change to occur. If you use an AI assistant instead of a human, you will save time and MONEY. Humans are too expensive and frustrating. Skip that entire experience by eliminating the need to relate.
Get that skinny shot because let's face it, you need it. Why do you need it? Because you don't look like the filtered and sculpted version of personhood we all see online. Why does that matter? Because we all live so much online now, you can't be anything but ugly unless you get that shot, tuck that pocket of skin, lift your eyelids, and basically flatten the humanity out of your face, skin, and body.
Humans are messy. That's what makes us so great. The forces telling us otherwise are big, like "how can we ever hope to take them" on big.
We remember the lonely Vietnam protestor who stood in front of the White House (back when one could stand in front of the White House) with his candle, usually alone, to say NOPE, not in my name, I don't endorse this, this SUCKS. When asked why he bothers standing there, when it's such a minuscule gesture against the behemoth war machine, he said (and I paraphrase): "I don't stand here to change the war. I stand here so the war doesn't change me."
That's what we have to do. Stand somewhere so that the forces of evil—or in this case, the forces that would erase humanity—don't change us.
Embrace messy. Embrace imperfect. Embrace non-conformity. Embrace the dignity present in every person. Embrace the time and energy that all this embracing takes.
Now offering the humanity shot: line up for yours today.
Photo: from a wonderful walk with all my friends in China Camp State Park this weekend. And by friends, I of course mean the trees. All the trees.
No comments:
Post a Comment