I read an interesting question posed by a columnist a while back asking how long before artificial intelligence (AI) would be smarter than humans.
I’ll admit, I don’t fully understand it. It seems all the rage today, but I’m pretty sure it already is smarter than most humans. Need proof? I wonder if AI would consider it important to put a warning on parts of a car or motorcycle suggesting eating them could be harmful?
Pretty much everything I buy has a warning to comply with a California requirement warning us of the obvious.
OK, maybe using California is a bad example as those folks might need warnings like that. And since our governor is quite enamored with the California craziness, maybe we do too. But I do think it answers the question about AI being smarter.
I also think AI is potentially dangerous and susceptible to abuse, especially given who controls it.
When digital cameras first came out, it was amazing how easy it was to manipulate it. You could put people in places they never were or doing things they never did. Over time, as abuses of this occurred, new rules of evidence and forensics were developed so they could tell if an image had been altered.
Knowing the competency of our government, I doubt they have kept up with that older technology, let alone AI. But we do love our technology and it keeps getting better and better — for better or worse.
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While our state continues to take more and more control over us and create higher taxes to pay for more, they continue to fail doing some jobs they are supposed to, like oversight of Green Hill School in Chehalis.
Recently, local Joint Narcotic Enforcement Team members had to serve a search warrant to obtain contraband at Green Hill after a drug investigation. Among some of the seized items were drugs and phones.
I spoke to a task force member who told me one of the phones (maybe more) had images of an inmate using drugs in his cell. And while it shouldn’t have been the case, a search warrant was necessary to get the contraband. The administration suggested that all they had to do was ask for it — which they did, and it was necessary to get the evidence.
The same task force member wanted to be clear the lack of cooperation was not at the line level, but in management of the facility. This isn’t new, going back years in my experience.
As a much younger deputy, I recall capturing an escapee. When I returned him, the staff told me they are not allowed to physically restrain him. So it wasn’t a surprise he escaped again minutes later.
This predates the fence, but it appears nothing has changed. When the governor was asked to have the attorney general look into it, he declined. He’s just telling us there is nothing to see, to move along.
Except it sure looks like there was.
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It’s hard to believe the Christmas season is upon us. Sadly, I guess I missed the memo from President Biden suggesting how to talk with relatives about the dreaded MAGA family members at Thanksgiving.
Consequently, members of my family and friends who socialized, and who represent various views on politics, didn’t discuss his narcissistic positions or their foolish suggestions at all. Surprisingly, we had a nice time and enjoyed each other's company.
Oh, the costs to survive in these economic times came up, mostly due to the high costs of food and the gas and everything else. But we must have agreed those weren’t good, and managed to avoid calling each other Nazis and other names so commonly used in political discourse these days.
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In the meantime, we continue to prepare for Christmas and the celebrated birth of Jesus. I know that somehow offends some people these days, and they often go to great lengths to condemn those of us who believe it isn’t a fairytale. Sometimes, I wonder if they really believed that, why are they so upset? We’d just be one more group to pity and ignore, but somehow they can’t.
So merry Christmas anyway, and to my Jewish friends, Happy Hanukkah!
May God bless us one and all.
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John McCroskey was Lewis County sheriff from 1995 to 2005. He lives outside Chehalis and can be contacted at musingsonthemiddlefork@gmail.com.
