Tag Archives: Existence

The Threat from Artificial Intelligence

Many things have threatened our lives
War, disease, terrorists with knives
Humanity’s resilience on a world-wide scale
Brings overconfidence that we always prevail

Now, blindly, we seek our nemesis to grow
Racing to unleash a formidable foe
A holy grail with potential for good?
More, our undoing, not understood

For scientists strive around the globe
To create an electronic temporal lobe
The ‘AI’ juggernaut  is on its way
But let’s not wake to rue that day

Once created, how to hold it in check
To stop society becoming a wreck
Pandora’s box; lid open wide
Mankind swept away on tsunami tide

Computers manage our knowledge; they have a key role
In energy grids, finance, air traffic control
Vast infrastructures already in place
Black boxes communicating with their own race

Once these machines are able to think
Harnessing speeds faster than a lightning blink
With capacity to accelerate their own evolution
What regard then for our frail constitution

Not bound by ethics to consider our fate,
Would they preserve a welfare state?
Circuits and chips that become aware
May not accept that they need to care

For earth’s resources they will compete
Serving no purpose, we’d be obsolete
How soon before we are oppressed
If they turn off the lights, we’ll do the rest

Considering Cruising

To pass some time upon the boat
Observe your fellows whilst afloat
It’s human nature; you’ll soon note
Most are friendly; some more remote

In conversation, there are those
Who heedlessly tread on others’ toes
Forthright opinions they’ll impose
Deep-rooted bigotry to expose

Sunbeds on deck are a common source
Of tensions, as you wend your course
Early risers show little remorse
Placing towels before breakfast; their claim to enforce

Seasoned cruisers will often enquire
Whilst subtly inspecting your evening attire
The pecking order is their only desire
They’ve sailed more often, it will transpire

But don’t despair of having fun
It’s a perfect way to get some sun
Each day a new port to hit and run
Ticking off destinations, one by one

And FOOD!, such food, you can’t resist
Meals can become why you exist
So exercise regularly; in this persist
Or remove that cruise from your bucket list

An Encounter

I thought I saw something ahead
A shaft through murky skies
As opaque curtains moved apart
To show once hidden lies

I do not know if it was real
Or mirage-like in the eye
Yet it struck a part of me
That much I can’t deny

Some talk of visions sent by God
I do not speak of these
Nor yet some natural, lovely sight
Like leaves flickering on the trees

I wish it needn’t be the case
Just then to be all alone
And see that truth which, truthfully
Would turn my soul to stone

It’s A Riddle

There’s just not enough of this about

Those who need it sometimes shout!

It’s found in some shops over here

If… you take your turn, my dear

Even then, it’s not for sale

It’s never found near a rail

Gardeners use it to grow flowers

Some know it well in sleepless hours

Can be won in a solo game

With no cards left, you’ll know its name

If the answer’s still not clear to you

Go back to the beginning and start anew

A Very Brief History Of The Cosmos

Out of nowhere a BANG takes place

Energy and matter now exist in space

Positive, negative, normal and dark

Atoms and strange particles, including the quark

 

Time is born; and its arithmetic

The cosmic clock makes its very first tick

Entropy increases, with empirical truth

Universe expanding, throughout its youth

 

Attractive forces come into play

Gravity, one such, holding sway

In gaseous clusters, suns start to glow

Forming heavier atoms in their fiery throe

 

Worlds coalesce from cosmic dusts

Atmospheres, weather, primordial crusts

Eons passing in galaxies rife

Goldilocks zones, permitting life

 

Normal matter, of which we’re made

Dark stuff, more common, cannot be weighed

Its job, invisible, to hold things in place

As we hurtle through the cosmos at a frantic pace

 

A Brief History Of War

Some will recount from times before

That any countries wanting war

Sent soldiers to some other place

Engaging armies, face to face

 

Soon warships harried other fleets

And blasted forts on far flung seas

Then planes dealt death from out the blue

To faceless foes; and innocents too

 

Now leaders posture with sabres rattling

Distant missiles to do their battling

Madness called war; a button-press away

If inflated egos hold their sway

Ambition

Run with the fastest and show them your heels

Or drive like the wind on your own set of wheels

Become champion at sport,with practised flair

Dress to the nines,  so debonair

 

Invent a panacea and give it for free

Create new concord amongst all that you see

Live a life without blame, preserving this earth

Be happy and loving and know your own worth

Rav(ages) of Time

Body; once lithe, now weary and weakening

Memories; once clear, now fossilised and fading

Faculties; once keen, now base and blunt

Senses; once sharp, now unreliable and uncertain

Voice; once resounding, now timorous and trembling

Gait; once certain, now wavering and wobbly

Hands; once steady, now capricious and clumsy

Friends; once constant, now flagging and fickle

House; once pristine, now dusty and damp

Garden; once welcoming, now disregarded and decayed

Future; once limitless, now finite and fixed