These days, there is a lot of talk about artificial intelligence (AI).

To me, the term sounds like an oxymoron. Many decades ago, my father took a training class in the use of the personal computer. According to him, the instructor said, “The first thing to remember is that the computer is a dumb machine.” If that is true, then how can a computer show intelligence?

Just about everyone in this modern world uses AI, whether they know it or not (and whether they like it or not). For example, I have Siri on my iPhone. Siri, for those who aren’t familiar with it, is a virtual assistant which is artificially intelligent. I can ask it, “When is Bruce Springsteen’s birthday?” and it will reply in a female voice, “Bruce Springsteen was born on September twenty-third, nineteen forty-nine, and is seventy-four years old.” Or if I ask Siri a more complex question, it will show me links that potentially have the information for which I am looking. I have to admit that I love Siri.

Texting on my iPhone also exposes me to AI. As I am typing a sentence, three suggested words will appear below the text, and I can tap a word to insert it rather than typing out all of the letters. This saves me a lot of time, although sometimes it concerns me, such as when I type, “Suzelle was…” and one of the next words the app suggests is “murdered.”

For the most part, however, I don’t want much part in AI. I do not want to see a movie or TV show whose script was “created” by AI. Not necessarily because I don’t think the quality will be up to par, but because I believe humans are the only truly creative beings around. Not only that, but the human screenwriters need to eat. It is because of this that we had the writers’ strike in Hollywood last year. AI will never replace human writers. It is the same thing with music. I would not want to listen to music “composed” by AI. What would that sound like? And how would AI give a concert?

A few of my friends have Amazon Alexa in their homes. I have seen instances where Alexa will not do what you ask it to do, such as lower the volume of the music its speaker is playing. I also once heard on a TV news broadcast that there have been times when Alexa will flatly say, “No,” in response to a command. I wonder if the machines are revolting.

What is your opinion of AI?