“The lyric ‘Are we human or are we dancer?’ from The Killers’ song Human poses a question about free will versus conformity, suggesting that people are either truly individuals with consciousness and choice (’human’) or are just following societal expectations and performing actions without genuine autonomy, like actors in a predetermined performance (’dancer’). The phrase was inspired by a disparaging comment from Hunter S. Thompson, who said America was ‘raising a generation of dancers, afraid to take one step out of line.’” It’s notable that I got that description of the meaning of a song questioning our humanity from machine-powered AI. I searched for the lyrics, hoping for a link to the song, but the first result was from AI. I guess that makes me a dancer? Oddly, we’re living in an age when humans are questioning their humanity as machines are being coded to act more and more like humans. In WaPo (Gift Article), Dana Milbank decided to ask a chatbot: How do I regain my humanity “The longer I spent engaging with AI engines, the more I could see them masquerading as human confidants, flattering me and appealing to my human need to be seen and heard, while luring me away from connections with actual humans. I could see why lonely people are falling in love with their chatbots, why vulnerable teenagers might be driven by a chatbot to self-harm.” I asked a machine how to be more human. It was dehumanizing. “Of all the AI engines I asked how I could become more human — ChatGPT, Gemini, Meta AI, Grok and Claude — not one of them came up with what would seem to be the most obvious solution: Stop asking computers how I can become more human. Uniformly, the chatbots would not own up to the harm their creators have done.” Not taking responsibility for damage that’s been done? That actually sounds all too human. 2The Yuck of the DrawIt takes a lot of things to go wrong for the house to lose, and Vegas is facing a lot of issues. Inflation is making visiting more expensive. International travel is down. The once sure thing visits from our friends in Canada plummeted when we stopped treating them like our friends. Oh, and there’s also the little detail that we all now carry around functional casinos in our front pockets. The desert has not been deserted, but Vegas is a lot less crowded. And that worries people in Nevada. And maybe it should worry all of us, because Vegas has often served as a key economic indicator for what’s to come across the country. NYT (Gift Article): What’s Wrong With Las Vegas? 3Limited SeriesAlmost everyone I know is escaping the brain-bludgeoning news cycle by watching an endless string of television series. So it may surprise you to learn that LA’s entertainment economy is not booming. “The entertainment industry is in a downward spiral that began when the dual strikes by actors and writers ended in 2023. Work is evaporating, businesses are closing, longtime residents are leaving, and the heart of L.A.’s creative middle class is hanging on by a thread.” WSJ (Gift Article): L.A.’s Entertainment Economy Is Looking Like a Disaster Movie. “At the end of 2024, some 100,000 people were employed in the motion picture industry in Los Angeles County, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Two years earlier, there were 142,000. The primary reason is that Hollywood is making less stuff.” (This helps explain how my wife and I managed to watch everything on every app and every channel. Please, please, make more.) 4Weekend WhatsWhat to Doc: “Drawing on over 600 hours of never-seen footage, this is the untold underdog story of Lilith Fair, the women’s music festival of the late 90s.” Lilith Fair: Building a Mystery (Hulu) is a really good documentary about the building of a massive festival tour. But it’s about a lot more, including offering some ominous clues about what was coming in terms of our culture wars. But mostly, it’s about good vibes and good music. 5Extra, ExtraGavinizing the Opposition: Trump is threatening to cut federal funding to universities if they don’t sign his highly partisan Compact for Academic Excellence in Higher Education. Gavin Newsom just said the schools will lose state funding “instantly” if they do sign it. California vows to ‘instantly’ cut funding to universities that cave to Trump ‘compact. 6Feel Good Friday“Sarah Mullally, a onetime nurse who became the first female bishop of London, was named on Friday as the 106th archbishop of Canterbury, the first woman to occupy the post, at the helm of the Church of England, in more than 1,400 years.” After Centuries, a Woman Will Lead the Church of England.
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Friday, October 3, 2025
The Human Race
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