After a friend showed me how to use a basic version of ChatGPT (AI), I tried asking a few questions about life, about the world since the advent of computers, the Internet, and now AI. The AI chattered away in response like a little household spirit, as if it knew everything I had ever written online. A smaller world, wider distances I chatted with the AI that every time the Lunar New Year (Tet) holiday comes around, I tend to receive virtual greeting cards with images and sounds that look cheerful enough. On the afternoon of the eve of Tet and the morning of the first day of the Lunar New Year, timelines and chat boxes are flooded with wishes. Many people probably find it mildly pleasant, but don’t necessarily read them all. The following year, the same refrains return; sometimes one just copies and pastes them out of convenience, even sending them to an ex, then deleting them in bulk and tossing them into the trash. What does the AI think about this? The AI seemed to ponder for a few seconds, then said: “Sir, in the @ era the world has grown smaller—seemingly closer, yet in fact more […]