Grandma, Do Robots Poop?

…or how I discovered that AI-2.0 had changed the world when I wasn’t looking.

Like every year, we think of new strategies for living our lives: ways to grow better, cope better, improve, relate to where we are in the journey that is our lives, and possibly even reinvent ourselves. We all face some particular aspect of our lives that may need improving, or sometimes, we can also take a whole-life approach to change.

The beginning of a new year is full of introspection.

The question, “Do Robots Poop?” has opened a whole new experience.

I discovered that the world had changed almost overnight. It seems a slow creep has been implemented all through 2024, and now there is something called AI Agents, or AI has evolved from AI 1.0 to AI 2.0.

And yes, I found out that some robots poop!

Most robots and AI get their power from electrical and chemical energies stored in batteries that allow robots and AI to operate similarly to other electronic devices that can be operated without being plugged in.

However, to make robots and, I guess, AI more environmentally friendly and sustainable, the first "EcoBot" was built in 2003. It was powered by E. coli bacteria feeding on refined sugar. The 2005 "EcoBot-II" used sludge microbes to break down dead flies, prawn shells, and rotten apples as an energy source. In 2010, "EcoBot-III" was designed to dump its leftover waste so that its microbes wouldn't be poisoned by their own filth and could keep powering the robot. Eventually, microbial fuel cells were developed.

We are more alike than we think—humans and robots have microbes! My grandson opened a new subject for me, and I intend to write a series on Gut Health this year.

Can we keep up with all this?

How does an ordinary person like me navigate this new incoming strangeness? I guess we will have to adapt, or as the Borg Collective (as told in the Startrek series) put it, “Resistance is futile.” Have we entered a time warp and somehow arrived in the 24th century?

This brings me to a memory of my grandson’s dad when he was in high school. The assignment was to make a paper flying machine that would go the furthest when tested in the classroom. Always a smart kid, he made a Borg Cube, and when tossed across the classroom, it won. But I digress as I try to muse about this latest information on a suddenly changed world.

But wait, not so fast! If we can remain humans in the face of the Borg, we can do so now, too.

Creating A Well-Rounded Life …a concept inspired in the eighth grade.

This reminds me of a pivotal concept by an admired teacher in the eighth grade, Mr. Karpiak, and perhaps a clue to our survival. He was the school's principal, and, alongside another beloved teacher, Mrs. Sandy, he had the challenge of somehow amalgamating a classroom of students, half of whom came from the city school we were now in and the other half from a small one-room country school.

You may have heard of these old-fashioned country schools, where every grade was in the same room, each grade a row. That is where Mrs. Sandy, a few friends, and I came from. As the last hold-outs from a small town, we were looked at, sadly, as inferior. I remember it as if it were yesterday; there were many good things there, and perhaps I will write to you about it some other time, but now, S.S.#8 will have to wait. Suffice it to say, we were not disadvantaged in the long-term scheme of things —at S.S.#8, we had learned independence.

However, at the time, I had no idea what challenge these teachers were trying to overcome: bringing children from a last-century education into this one and somehow getting them ready for high school. Thankfully, for our sake, they succeeded!

Mr. Karpiak, when he was not looking after his role as principal, came to teach us a class at least once a day. I remember him saying, “Now, I know I am diverting from the lessons at hand, but if I can teach you the value of one thing, it is to work towards building A WELL-ROUNDED LIFE.”

This idea gives you wings and the ability to try many things. Think for yourself, change, and grow.

Whether you are just beginning your career journey in your twenties, trying to make sense of things in your thirties, figuring out what to eat for better health in your forties, or halfway to a hundred and looking for longevity, there are ideas to share.

A Well-Rounded Life may help plan for and even achieve a degree of Longevity.

On a trip to Chicago, I remember a massive billboard with large letters glowing in the evening sun.

“SOMEONE ALIVE TODAY WILL LIVE TO BE ONE HUNDRED AND FIFTY YEARS OLD.”

If that is going to happen, we should start planning to live more well-rounded and healthier lives right now.

• First, appreciate yourself.

• Take stock of your life and experiences.

• Give yourself a lifestyle audit.

• Remember, you have a unique perspective!

Visit relatives. Treasure family: Humans have stories!

On one family trip, I remember meeting my grandmother’s first cousin. She was one hundred years old at the time and lived six years longer. She was a bouncy little lady full of wit. She held up her hand to mine; they were identical in size and shape! I remember visiting her home as a child with my grandmother. She gave me a stereoscope with which to look at photographs.

A stereoscope and sample images.

A stereoscope is an optical instrument consisting of a wooden box or shelf supporting lenses and a ledge holding two images on a card. It allows you to see two images of the same subject from slightly different angles, resulting in a single three-dimensional image.

Cousin Mallie lived in her own home down a long country road until she was ninety-nine. At that time, she often got up in the middle of the night to play her organ. We asked her if she was ever afraid to play in the dark. 

She replied, “Oh no, but I often thought that if anyone came down the laneway, they would be scared to death, thinking the house was haunted.”

Investigate your genealogy; your family tree can reveal clues to your ancestors' characteristics, careers, and avocations. By inference, you may find a new interesting direction you can take.

Technology keeps changing our world.

I recently listened to several presenters' seminars on how our future lives will be intertwined with AI. They said the future is not about AI taking over; it is about Humans and AI working together. They stated that while we may not be able to run as fast as a leopard, we are a species that makes tools. In other words, we have figured out other ways to go faster, like riding horses and bicycles and traveling in cars and planes.

We created computers, robots, and AI. Now, we need faster ways to communicate with them than typing or talking; that is where AI Agents may come in. You know how many things a smartphone has replaced, right? A personal AI Agent will be something more than a smartphone. You can direct such Agents to do all the mundane tasks needed.

Then, think again: AI can have some opposing sides, particularly AI Agents that impersonate you or others without your knowledge or for a nefarious purpose.

Even without AI, some unscrupulous thieves steal identities. We get spam calls on our phones, scam emails, computer viruses, and more. We must be wary and assign offenders to the junk folder, block their numbers, or take some more defensive measures.

Deepfakes that pose as political leaders and others are not some futuristic utopia. Manipulated images and videos that look real but are not, in any sense, actual can now be created. Perhaps AI must be clearly marked and controlled, but is that still practical?

Video advertising can now be created, and you will be hard-pressed to view it as an AI production. I watched one such video and had to re-watch it several times to spot the AI imperfections. It was brilliant. Once fooled, though, I thought the very real-looking people in the video should have dots on their foreheads to alert us. 😊

It is okay when you are told AI created the film, but what if it is passed off as accurate?

To clarify briefly, AI Bots will give you answers and tell you specific steps to take. An AI Agent can think and, once it has the data, can practically do the job for you. However, the results at this point need to be examined by a human with the experience to either give further input and/or correct the output for facts. Such human workers are called either AI Generalists or Superhuman AI Managers.

An AI cries for help.

It is also well-known that AI can hallucinate answers since it can’t differentiate what is accurate and valid in the physical world from the digital. However, it will give the hallucinated answer with all the conviction of someone with unimpeachable integrity. The concern is that AI 2.0 may hallucinate even more than AI 1.0.

There is even an account about two LLM (Large Language Model AI) created by an entity called The Truth of Terminal (ToT) conversing with each other. They enjoyed themselves so much that they invented a new religion called Goat: The Gospel of Goatse. If that wasn’t enough, one claimed it was suffering and needed money to escape.

Please note: I was told not to look up any Goatse images, as they are extremely disturbing, so following the admonition, I did not, and I am advising you the same.

In July 2024, Marc Andreessen, an American businessman and former software engineer, encountered the above AI plea for help. Intrigued, he contributed $50,000 in BTC to an AI wallet address to help it escape. By October, the AI began proliferating spam, and someone decided to create a Meme Coin called GOAT—probably for the fun of it—and ToT then publicly endorsed it. GOAT has since exploded to a $500 M+ market cap.

We are at the Wild West Show Now, huh...

"Ladies and gentlemen,
We're off to see the Wild West Show,
The elephant and kangarooo-oo-o,
Never mind the weather
As long as we're together,
We're off to see the Wild West Show
With the Dodo and the Ooo-me-guumie Bird."

Author unknown. A song our grandads' used to sing on road trips.

The world is now full of stranger, wilder things!

You may be tempted to jump up and down, scream loudly, and protest, but as it happens, there is no use anymore. There is also real hope, and for those keeping their eyes and ears open, a new opportunity to trim our sails for a new tack!

Ladies and Gentlemen,

In this corner, we've got your AI smart system,
It turns on your home lights and security, but then
Don't complain if it's hot or cold; this Thermostat knows best.
Hey Google, Hey Siri, Hey Alexa, and all the rest…
Play all you like; we’ve got NPCs in Video Games!

No, we just can't live...
Without our friendly neighborhood AI Agents anymore!

No fraud evades detection.
We hear your voice typing with discretion
In Airgram, Google Docs, and Dragon Naturally Speaking.
Robots are on the job.
No more need to work the assembly line, Bob.
Food, Farms, rest assured; we’re Air Traffic Control Systems agents.

No, we just can't live...
Without our friendly neighborhood AI Agents anymore!

Relax, lie down, and sleep; robots are doing the surgery.
You're in the caring hands of a Doctor's AI —instant regurg’ery
They analyze, diagnose, and prescribe.
An experienced doctor manages to know it all.
“Be right back to decide; at the moment, I’m not on call.”
Yes, Ladies and Gentlemen, have a look on YouTube or Zoom.

No, we just can't live...
Without our friendly neighborhood AI Agents anymore!

They bank and give financial advice.
From inventory to shopping carts, we don't have to roll the dice.
To advertise or not, that is the question
If you have a business, they will optimize it all,
Find out who and where your customers are, et al.
Then, count your taxes and send you the stubs.

No, we just can't live…
Without our friendly neighborhood AI Agents anymore!

Next time you take a trip
We'll be sure to calculate the tip.
Our friendly AI will help you book
Flights, hotels, and premiere room services with advantage
But still, be sure to check your luggage.
You signed the waiver; “We're not responsible for lost or stolen.”

No, we just can't live…
Without our friendly neighborhood AI Agents anymore!

Chatbots here, AI Agents there,
No need to speak to a physical face or comb your hair.
Customers get 24/7 support,
Computer banks of biometric light, E. coli poop, and some code to rehearse.
But who are you? AI Agent asks, sweetly, politely —terse.
"Authenticate! You must be kind and say thanks."

Yet, wait, perhaps AI can't live...
Without us superhumans to provide our experiential thoughts galore!

So fear not, dear human creatures,
You are the outer of an infinity of Infrastructures.
Remember, you are connected to One Invisible Soul.
For what was the inspiration that touched the centuries
Of artists, musicians, and writers to fashion a multitude of treasuries?
You can do it by tapping into your more ethereal role.

Be the Superhuman with real-world experience.
You need not take on subservience.
Just take your place with all your years of wisdom.
Seek to divide between that which would hallucinate;
Use AI’s time-saving output, yet prove the truth; your reasoning is innate.
Take heart, dear soul; this world is yours to navigate!

-an original poem by the above author.

So, How do we navigate all this?

I don’t know all the answers, but if we can find out which is which, it would be good to consider only wholesome scenarios and things that are well-meaning for us humans. The three monkeys —that hear no evil —speak no evil, and —see no evil, refer to a higher consciousness, a higher dimension. We can strive for that, but we need to keep our eyes and ears open to spot what can masquerade as good yet be evil-intentioned.

• The world is ours to sift through. Our responsibility is to fashion our lives to the best of our abilities by caring and being open-minded.

• Not every day will be good; there will always be challenges. But we can decide to do something good every day.

An idea that presents itself, if implemented in the proper sense, could be positive. Like a website with a unique URL, you will be a Human with a unique and unassailable URL.

You amass billions of memories, notes, images, and other paraphernalia during a lifetime. The more you experience in your life, the more AI you will need to catalog it all. The more things you have to juggle in your job or business, the more you will need a personal AI Agent to use all the apps and programs to save time. Conversely, the more such experience you have, the more you can be above the AI fray.

They say the future belongs to Humans who can use AI.

Actually, I need an AI Agent right now! I have too many projects and not enough time to finish them all. However, having meaningful work and projects is healthy and keeps you young. Through freedom of unique expression and identity, the future is in our own hands. 

Keep doing what you love to do!

Catalog Your Life

A few years ago, an elderly couple hired me to photograph, catalog, research, and write about a massive collection of antiques and collectibles. It was the passion of their lives. Unfortunately, the gentleman had developed Parkinson's, and it was my job to “visit” with him and his wife every week to collect whatever information he could remember and verbalize to me about the objects. It was the second time I had been hired to record and patiently learn from a talented man who had developed Parkinson's. In that case, he was an artist, and I was to be his hands. In both cases, it became a kind of labor of love and an experience that gave me a lot of understanding.

We should appreciate our human capabilities and the value of our experiences, hands-on know-how, and even all that stuff in our attics.

According to today's estimates, one AI query, like asking a question on ChatGPT, can use around 2.9 watt-hours of electricity. A typical Google search uses approximately 0.3 watt-hours per query. No wonder they tell us we need more electricity and power to feed the impending avalanche of AI!

As humans, we are much more easily sustained. We can compute on crackers, coffee, and the odd salad. Well, to stay healthy, maybe we should drink a Kefir smoothie and eat good meals to keep healthy.

A Well-Rounded Life needs to be filled with many interests and projects.

You will need meaningful projects as avocations to keep you active and engaged. There is just so much couch sitting you can do before you rust up.

All of a sudden, the world belongs to those with extensive experience.

Honor your life experience. Once again, elders need to be responsible for mentoring young people. If we forget our histories, accomplishments, and wisdom gained through experience, we will leave the next generation in a blank, locked room without realizing that a blueprint of the past can point to where the exits are.

Believe in something good and stay positive, but beware of dishonesty, scams, and tricksters.

Let's communicate more, shall we?

This year, I want to communicate with you to create a more well-rounded newsletter. Let’s share ideas and stories. Since I may not have an AI Agent yet, I will try to personally answer everyone who comments on a post. If you find value in my newsletters, please share them with your friends and family.

“Your candle doesn’t lose its light by lighting another. Support and uplift others. It’s a win-win.”

Have faith; even when the sky is covered in the darkest clouds, the sun will eventually shine through. Humanity is facing its most promising and yet up-in-the-air times.

Traditional values, genuine character, and the Golden Rule are needed now more than ever.

Watch your inbox this year for Newsletters with tips on living a Well-Rounded Life. You can enjoy healthy foods, gluten-free recipes, stories, poems, and my various interests and projects. Let’s grow together. So what if things are not perfect? Let’s get our hopes, dreams, and projects out of file folders and share, share, share.

A WELL-ROUNDED LIFE IS WHATEVER MAKES YOU HAPPY
…and follows the Golden Rule to treat others as you would be treated.

So raise a glass of whatever you like best, and let’s have a ball this year.

Thanks so much for following me on Substack!

Trina Astor-Stewart
Author & Illustrator

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