Tesla Car Fires: A Metaphor for Where GenAI Is Taking Us
"Four friends died on October 24 in a Tesla Model Y that caught fire after crashing into a safety barrier on Lake Shore Boulevard in Toronto. After the crash, it appears the car’s electronic opening mechanism stopped working, preventing the occupants and others from opening the doors. The only survivor, a woman in her twenties, managed to escape thanks to a passerby who used a metal bar to break the vehicle’s window."—- Reuters, November 21, 2024
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The micro-lesson should be obvious: Muskrat, stop over-designing the darn car. Less is more. An old-fashioned door handle is still the best way to get out of a car, especially one that's on fire.
The macro-moral is that we shouldn't be embracing every new technological development just because it's there. Mallory may have been right about why he and others climbed Mount Everest. But it's a very poor rationale for adopting every new gizzmo and gimmick that the geeks come up with.
The medieval Samurai and Chinese emperors understood this. That's why the Shogun kept westerners out of Japan for as long as possible and the Chinese emperor let his navy rot. They knew where their power lay and what might take it away. In the 21st century, we find this to be a very hard thing to get through our heads. If it's invented and available, we feel compelled to test drive it.
Faust sold his soul for knowledge. Frankenstein did the same. These fictional characters are fables with compelling lessons to be taught and learned. I firmly believe, and have co-founded the IAIA to espouse, that GenAI is our era's Frankenstein monster.
Could I be wrong? Heck yes... I sure hope so. This ain't about my ego.
However, I believe the burning Tesla is a metaphor. We have created a machine that is racing down history's highway. And when it crashes, we'll have no way of getting ourselves out of it.
