We're Talking to Rectangles
This is insane. And somehow, it might be good news.
Can we stop for a second?
Not stop worrying. Just stop pretending this is normal.
I'm talking into a rectangle. The rectangle is turning my voice note into an article.
A few years ago, talking into a rectangle meant sighing at Siri in a shopping centre while she confidently misunderstood you.
"Call Mum."
"Sure, playing Mumford & Sons."
Great. Love this for me.
Now I rant into my phone and a machine cleans it up, argues with me, ruins a few lines, improves a few others, and quietly makes me wonder if I've been underusing semicolons my entire life.
And we keep calling this "just another productivity tool."
No. Come on.
One of the strangest things humans have ever built, and we talk about it like a quarterly HR webinar.
The human voice is where AI starts to feel like more than a tool.
A tired person at the end of the day, talking into a phone, turning the mess in their head into something useful.
Strange. Useful. Not normal.
I'm bored with the idea that dread is the only serious emotion available.
Right next to the fear, waving its arms like an idiot at a pedestrian crossing, is another truth:
This technology is ridiculous.
Useful. Dangerous. Overhyped. Under-understood. Already here. Not finished.
Neither are we.
The problem isn't only the machine. It's also us.
We let headlines do our thinking. We act like fear is deeper than curiosity.
It's not.
Fear is loud. Curiosity is work.
We all better start learning how to talk to robots. Get your safe words ready people. Don't worry about context structure and output. This is real and the robots are here!
Learning. Testing. Failing. Checking what the machine spits back. Refusing to outsource your brain because a chatbot used the word "delve" with confidence.
Something has cracked open.
AI doesn't fix inequality.
But the robots will fix you a cuppa tea
Technology isn't fair by default.
But the robots are bloody cheap. ($17,000USD and I want 2. So one can fix the other one when it breaks)
The internet didn't make everyone free (I didn't write that bit)
Social media didn't make everyone wise, (I wrote this next bit) although my mum does solve the world's problems in comment sections at the dinner table.
Crypto didn't make your cousin a financial philosopher (👈🤖)
(🥸👉) How's that $250 NFT going, Aaron?
But something has shifted. #therobotformayor
You honestly thought that last photo of the sweet lady and the colourful robot was AI.
Nope.
Ladies, fellas, my LBGTI friends. That was an article a few weeks ago saying how they have introduced working robots into nursing homes in Melbourne Australia.
👉🥸🤖👈
https://share.google/I4Ox5LZSAQkOW4XGi
You came into this story looking for a prompt or a hack. I know you. I am scrapping prompts too.
You found some AI photos going “yeah, not bad. I could make better". What has a guy with 11 followers got to say? "Oh he is trying to be funny.
“Go back to Reddit dickhead."
No. I don't like it there. They are mean and the smell like self righteousness.
Substackers are warm, welcoming, and have the degrees to back up there stories. And you are all aware without the glare.
I want this to be read, reviewed, and get one of those nice hugs you people give with nice words.
This is my - the robots are coming. They are looking after Nana already.
" Number 5 is Alive.” - a quote Reddit kids would not get. I know you will.
Useful knowledge is leaking through walls faster than gatekeepers can patch them.
AI gives people a place to start. Not finish.
The future isn't arriving as an announcement. It's arriving as a mess.
A voice note. A cheap phone. A student unstuck at midnight. A worker using the tool before the boss understands it. A small business owner finally writing the email they avoided for three weeks. A musician trying to understand a contract clause.
All of us pretending we're calm while talking to rectangles like lunatics.
The computer lets you in if you know the code (Password123!).
The code entry is your voice. Your taste. Your story. Your stubbornness. Your own weird way of doing things.
The machine still needs checking. The companies still need watching. The outputs still need judgement.
Someone left the door open. Not opened it like a welcoming concierge at the Hilton. One of the techies left the AI door ajar and someone's curiosity has now created a community.
People are walking through with messy voice notes, half-formed ideas, and questions they were too embarrassed to ask out loud.
I know it was left open, I walked in here to the AI and broke some stuff in Github.
A swarm of Evie's from Wali fixed my mess because I didn't clone it, fork it, or something.
I started playing around with the actual repository (no one said not to). And I may have broken Google's lighthouse for five minutes 😅. What? I broke the internet. We all are trying. Right? Sorry Aunty Google. My bad.
We're still here. Still weird. Still useful. Still allowed to learn. Still allowed to laugh. Still allowed to build something better than the mood we've been handed.
So yeah. Can we stop for a second?
Look around.
We're talking to rectangles. The rectangles are talking back.
This is insane.
And somehow, against all available evidence, I still think that might be good news.
I am a developer now for Aunty G. Someone definitely left the door open. And it's nice to meet you all. More of us are coming in. But the robots will be here. Soon!
— Steven
If you want a prompt. Messge me and I will share some like a couple of old chefs swapping recipes.