“ I, Robot” And The Real Risks Of Outsourcing Our Humanity

Welcome And Summer Series Banter

SPEAKER_01 0:03

Hello, everybody, and welcome once again to the Unflirt Podcast. I am your host with Abigail, aka R A.

SPEAKER_05 0:09

What's up, friends? It's your girl Jaquita. Sorry for the delay. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 0:19

We're about to have a Satan. It's about to be a time. This is the podcast that is going to help you gain the courage to change your mind so that you can experience more freedom.

SPEAKER_05 0:28

Listen. Okay, yes. On today. Okay. You know, I think we're in the summer series because it's summer, summer, summer time. Summer time. Summer time. Remember how Ruth Abigail didn't know that song? And I bet she still didn't go listen to it. And she still don't know it. Because she's wiggity wiggity whack.

SPEAKER_01 0:52

I have listened to it. I don't know it. Like you know it, but I've heard it. So still playing me here.

SPEAKER_05 1:00

When I tell you the levels of which I don't understand how that song missed your entire childhood, I don't get it.

SPEAKER_01 1:08

It's okay. There's a lot of things we don't understand. You know what I'm saying? Yeah. We'll understand it better by and by as the old people.

SPEAKER_05 1:16

Anywho, while Ruth Abigail tries to navigate her lack of exposure.

Why I, Robot Still Hits

SPEAKER_05 1:23

Listen, guys, all right. You know, in this big old world of AI and all the technologies and all the new things that are coming out. When we were discussing which movies we should we should talk about, right? We needed one that that that touched on this futuristic element, right, that we were all gonna have to face one day. And we could have done the matrix. But all right, everybody does the matrix.

SPEAKER_00 1:49

We could have done the matrix. We could have done um um well we could have done several times. Take your time.

SPEAKER_01 1:56

I'm not gonna take that much time.

SPEAKER_05 1:58

Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. She uh just like she don't know, sometimes she don't know these movies. Okay, but uh, you know, uh the one that came to mind for us was iRobot. Okay.

SPEAKER_01 2:09

Robot.

SPEAKER_05 2:10

Came out in 2004, okay. Willie from Philly, all right, was out here in these streets. This was Will Will Smith was hot, okay. He was top of his game when iRobot came out. I think this because I'm pretty sure we had just did uh Fresh Prince had just gone off the air, I think. Independence day, like some of his blockbusters, men in black, yeah, like and then iRobot came out, and we were all like, ooh, the future. The future, it's the future.

SPEAKER_01 2:44

That was what's crazy is so it's set in 2035 is when the movie is set. And it's really crazy because we're in 2026. That's only nine years from now.

SPEAKER_02 2:56

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 3:01

I mean, I don't think it's gonna happen that soon, but the the robot nature and the nature of the robot, and like what you know, kind of what that looks like. I mean, we getting there. Like, yes, it's coming.

SPEAKER_05 3:16

It's coming. I think it's so I think the interesting thing about this idea of robots and and us using robots as helpers, you know, like these robots are here to serve us, you know. They are our new workforce that we can use, you know, to do our do the tasks that we as a society no longer want to do, yeah, or no longer want to outsource to each other. You know, I I think it's an interesting kind of dichotomy when you think about where society is going, like even how we use AI now.

Outsourcing Life To AI

SPEAKER_05 3:57

Like, you know, we can do these things. A lot of the things we ask AI to do are not things that we're not capable of. Yeah, it's just things that we're like, I'm gonna outsource it. You know, I'll be asking chat to do. I I saw recently there's like this new trend of people asking chat to like write their breakup messages. Oh, wow. You know, like, hey, like, you know, I don't even care about this relationship no more. Let me see if chat can say something sincere and you know, heartwarming, you know, so I can break up with this person, you know, but there's a lot of research being done also, because I just read this article that talks about how like more than like 60, 70% of the time chat will agree with you. Yes. So like if you like ax AI something and you're like, hey, you know, should I do this? Is this a good idea? Even if it's a terrible idea, right? Like, AI will be like, yeah, you should, and this is why what you're doing is right.

SPEAKER_01 4:59

You really have to, it it is trained to please you and to affirm you. Like that is actually the point. And that's why, like, a lot of the that's where a lot of people are are cautioning a lot of people. Um, that's why you have to fact check stuff. You have you have to go back and see it because it really is you train the AI to to agree with you. Um and so you have to actively tell it to not. So, like, and there's my light, folks. Excuse the darkness. It went out, but it's okay. So you have to, you have to really uh you really have to train. Yeah, so the way I do it sometimes is I will say, don't flatter me. Like, I don't want you to tell, I don't want you to tell me what I want to hear. I want you to give me your objective truth. Yeah, if you don't do that, then it's just gonna feed you what you want to hear. Yeah. And it's really interesting because like even in the movie, you know, in the movie you have these three, these three laws, and all the laws are

When AI Feeds Your Ego

SPEAKER_01 6:10

around the well-being of humans, to where like the the robots can't contradict human authority, if that makes sense and human life. And so while I do agree with that, like I think that uh we have to we have to create we can't create something, we can't consciously create something that could potentially destroy humanity. I think that that's um I I I think that's a uh anti I don't even know how to say this, uh anti-godly in a way. Um I think that that's wrong. But at the I think also on the other extreme, you can't create AI to tell you your truth. And that's that is the that is the the danger of I think one of the dangers of what we are seeing going on now with the use of AI, is it is trained to tell you your truth and to just feed you a loop of your own information.

SPEAKER_05 7:20

Wow. But you know, that's so interesting because even if you look at how we're using it now, like people are like, use this prompt and get AI to tell you, you know, what your biggest weakness is, or you know, what is what is the most beautiful thing about me? Like everybody use this prompt and everybody's going to AI at the same time, right? And typing in these prompts and getting AI to like give them this level of affirmation or this, and they're like, oh, AI knows me, right? It's reinforcing this idea that like AI knows me better than I know myself. Yeah. I had to ask AI. I had to, I had to ask this system, right? This this artificial intelligence, who I am.

SPEAKER_01 8:06

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 8:07

I had to ask it to give me identity, right? We're we're asking it like build me, you know, a popular thing right now is everybody's like, you know, build me out like a little profile that tells all of my strengths and, you know, like my little everything that I offer in a workplace. And like what does that look like? And and we are getting away. I think what we're missing is that, and I think this is also where main character in the movie, Detective Spooner, Will Smith, Willie from Philly, get jiggy with it, right? I think this is also where he was like felt like he was one of a billion who see who saw, like, y'all, this is this is taking away the soul of who we are. Like, we're losing it. And I think when we realize that we are moving from using this as a tool, right, that helps us with work or that helps us to do tasks, or like we're we're leaving the task-oriented nature of AI and moving more into this identity, affirmation, soul-seeking, purpose-seeking place. We're seeking something from it. We're asking something from it that wasn't its original intent. I will say this, it wasn't our original intent, but it seems like it was its original intent, right? Like, like that it has come to replace something, an internal processing, yeah, that you're that you're supposed to do. It's come to take that and to do it for you. Where now we used to, you know, like used to say, you know, I gotta go find my purpose or find my identity. It's like you ain't even gotta find it, I'll give it to you.

SPEAKER_01 10:02

So this is so I like what you're saying, you know, what you're saying, like even in the movie, right? The the detective, Detective Spooner, he is he is like the one person that's like everybody's blind. Y'all aren't seeing this, you don't realize what's going on. Robots are as only as good as we can control them. And and you know, he had a moment, which we found out much later in the movie, as to why he was so bothered by them, that he was like, you know, robots are so cold and calculated, they don't have a soul, they don't

The Crash That Exposed Robot Logic

SPEAKER_01 10:38

have a heart, they can't see past their own logic. So it's like we can't um there was a there was a part where he he was in a car crash and it was it had to choose to save him or a child. And he wanted the robot to save the child because he was like, I I I've you know, it's it's a kid, save the kid. Well, he calculated that it would be how he would have a higher chance of survival, so it let the child die. So that that's that scarred him and made him really hate that we were leaning so much into robots to make these really critical life decisions for us. To your point, like this. I think we're we we have a there is a pathway that if we're not careful today, we will piv we can easily pivot down that path. And uh what I find so interesting is that humans create robots. The truth is the only thing, the only way you can create something is create it in your own image. There's no other there's nothing else you can you can so what's actually happened is we have not replaced God with robots, we've replaced God with ourselves. Wow, okay, Rue. My Lord. Because we have decided that we can create something better than God created something, wow, and have it replaced what God intended for us to do.

SPEAKER_04 12:20

Wow.

SPEAKER_01 12:21

And I think, and so you know, to your point, there's a fine line between using a robot for a task versus trying to find your identity. So now it's almost as if we're we are we have played God, but realize that what we've created has some things that we we can't access. So we go to the created thing as opposed to who created us.

SPEAKER_05 12:48

Wow. No, that's really good.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

Like we're that's where we that's where we're headed, I think, if we're careful. Um and and so I think that's something we honestly, and I have to find I find myself unlearning it. It's like be careful what you find yourself using AI for. Like maybe not maybe not asking it about you. Why why are you finding are you asking AI more about you than you're asking God about you?

SPEAKER_05 13:19

My Lord. You know what I'm saying?

SPEAKER_01 13:21

Yes, and I have honestly found myself, I've had to really wrestle with it because quite frankly, AI gives you quicker answers and answers you like.

SPEAKER_05 13:29

Yeah, yeah, and and tells you things that fit the plan that you wanted to do anyway.

SPEAKER_01 13:37

That's it, right?

SPEAKER_05 13:39

Like we said, AI is trained to tell you yes, man. Whereas a lot of times the Lord will either say nothing or he will tell you no.

SPEAKER_01 13:50

No, or wait. Or wait. Oh my god, that wait, Jesus. AI has no weight in it. It's no way so quick, it's no weight. It's like, oh, I can get you right now, immediately, faster than a wave. I don't need to wait.

SPEAKER_05 14:05

You don't need to wait on this, and it's making us desensitized to actually trusting the creator, not us, and not just the creator, but it's making us less trustful of each other. Absolutely. Right, like you can be in the middle of a conversation and you can say something, and somebody be like, uh-uh, that ain't right, and then they go straight to AI. And then like, do do because see, I told you, like, and they give you a whole rundown. I was looking at something on uh social media, and you know how people be fighting in the comments or

Screens Became Our Source Of Truth

SPEAKER_05 14:40

whatever, and this one guy was like, I did the research, you need to do the research, and and the other person replied back, I did do the research and literally had a screenshot of her chat GPT question she asked. And I was like, So this is research now.

SPEAKER_03 14:57

Research.

SPEAKER_05 14:57

Like, and and we take it, you know, but it's like we kind of been trained from this for this, right? Because we went from encyclopedias, right, and like research looking like, all right, I gotta go find the B section because I need to look up something on, you know, Brooklyn. So I need to find the B section and then I need to read about Brooklyn, then I need to go find the N section and read about New York, then find the U section, read about United States of America, right? Like, and we went from all of this like manual labor where we were invested in the process to Wikipedia.

SPEAKER_01 15:31

Yep, that's right.

SPEAKER_05 15:32

And we took, I remember when there was a time when you could not use Wikipedia as a source. No, like your teacher would be like, you used what? No, Wikipedia, Google, you know, absolutely not. Where are your books? Where are your journals and your articles? Okay, where are your tangible sources? Yep, you mean Wikipedia that's edited by the public?

SPEAKER_01 15:59

Correct. Absolutely not. Yeah, like you can't verify this stuff.

SPEAKER_05 16:06

No, listen, but we did not care. We took this as truth. Yeah, we can't do it. Okay, even like if you on Facebook and they say like a celebrity has died, I'm going straight. I'm like, Wikipedia ain't updated it yet, so I don't know if that's true. Okay, it ain't true till Wikipedia updates that bio. That's crazy. Okay. Update that bio. Okay. Like y'all out here spreading falsehoods because it ain't being reported on the Google yet. You know, like we have, we have been slowly for at least the last 20 years, I would say, been training, like we as a as a society have been training ourselves to trust whatever comes across our screen. Yes. Whatever, whatever you see on a screen, we we've been conditioned to believe that that's true. Yeah. Which is why there's so much manipulation that can happen in social media, right? And anytime there's so much, you know, people call it fake news, right? But like there's so many different, there's so many different news sources that some of them are satire, some of them are just wrong, some of them are opinions. Yeah. Like journalism in itself is something so separate from a lot of what we see being reported. Absolutely. Right. And so again, when you look at our robot, right, you see Will Smith, who uh our Detective Spooner, who is this highly suspicious, um, just I I don't trust any. He calls the robots canners. Yeah. Get out of my face, canner. Right? Like they're and you know, they call them can openers. Yeah, you know, and I'm like, that's so rude. I like I really like who made this decision that we was gonna use these derogatory terms in this movie, okay? But you know, like I just really like he's walking because it is hard being in an organization, in a group, or in any situation where you feel like everyone else is sinking and you're trying to trying to like warn. Like he he didn't, he wasn't, he wasn't cocky about it. He was just like, I'm trying to warn y'all that this is not okay.

SPEAKER_03 18:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 18:30

And and everybody is like, a robot would never hurt hurt a person. A robot would never commit a crime. A robot, and I I'm more concerned about their being, they they were so convinced of the never than I am that he was so preoccupied by the possibility.

SPEAKER_01 18:49

I agree. And I would, I would, I would venture to say that it's easier to not be convinced because it's too convenient.

Convenience Versus Community Costs

SPEAKER_01 19:01

It's too convenient to let it go. And I think that's a I think that marries where we are today. Like it's too convenient to let it go. Like, you know, there are certain there are people like in Memphis right now, um, um Elon Musk's company, uh, you know, he he does grok, the um one of the AI things. Oh yeah, uh it's called Grok. And he has a plant here. Um, and uh so they where they uh build, they basically it's where they train grok. Like he's built this whole plant here in Memphis to train grok. And there's been a lot of pushback around that because of the neighborhoods that he chose to build the plants in, um, is close to you know, black neighborhood that's been disinvested in and people. Of course, right? And so one of the one of the things that has big has come to light as to the um uh the sacrifice that's being imposed on people is around environment, environmental stuff, your water being um uh your water supply going down, therefore your uh your bill goes up, electricity is a lot of power, right? Um and also uh pollution um in in that particular area. Like it's so there's all these different negative things, and people there have been, I will say, there have been a lot of there's a loud pushback, but not from the majority of the city, right? The majority of the city celebrates it because it brings capital to the city, you know, it brings um, you know, that their company, um, XAI is pouring, you know, millions of dollars into Memphis, um, in a sense to on some level to try to not make up for, but this to be good good uh partners, uh business partners for the city and things like that. Um, and so there's a there's kind of a give and take there. Um, but I think that it's uh it is it is the few who are not being heard because they see something that uh the many don't see because of the convenience of what's being built.

SPEAKER_04 21:28

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 21:29

And it's hard to let go of convenience when you've been introduced to it. And I think that's the that's the reality of most of us. Like when things are easier, when things when I I feel like, oh, things are they're novel, they're new, they they make different things, uh like they they make they make things smoother for you, it can be hard to let that go. Um, and so you know, just seeing it in real time and noticing the the way that the The many are reacting to what the few are are saying.

SPEAKER_04 22:04

My lord.

SPEAKER_01 22:05

Is like it's really interesting. And it does remind me of the way this is this plays out in the movie. Like, there's very the like he is the guy that is saying, Hey, we need to pay attention. This is not good. Something's wrong, something's happening. And I don't, he's he's not, he doesn't trust robots. He's not on a mission to get rid of all robots. He is on a mission to make sure people understand the uh the consequence of releasing full control to these robots. And I think I think it's the same here. AI is not bad, and I don't think it's AI is bad. I use it all the time. Yeah. But releasing full control and releasing your own autonomy and releasing your sense of sense of connection to God.

SPEAKER_04 22:54

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 22:55

And letting and either intentionally or unintentionally letting AI replace that, that is where I think we are really, we can really fall off the rails.

SPEAKER_05 23:06

Yeah. Even in, and I think that it is isolating, right? And I it's been so interesting watching how we've walked through different seasons. And um, because like, you know, there was COVID, right? When we were quarantined, I missed them quarantine days. I ain't gonna lie to you. You know, I took them for granted when I was in it. I was like, man, I can't see nobody, man. You know, I'm in the house all by myself all day. And now I'm like, child tired of these people.

SPEAKER_00 23:38

Exactly.

SPEAKER_05 23:39

I was like, why don't we all just why don't we all just go to our houses for three months? Why don't we why don't we all just, you know, call me, I'll call you. Exactly, exactly. Why don't we all take a break uh from the world? And it we saved so much money, you know, because I wasn't spending nothing. I was cooking. All right. I did a little uh vegan uh journey during that time. But anywho, but you know, like even like

Abdicating Care And Distrusting Experts

SPEAKER_05 24:06

in the beginning of the movie, it starts off. First of all, you know, we're seeing his, you know, disheveled home, you know. And he's a detective, you know, he worked, you know, work for the for the sheriff's office, you know, work for the police force, you know. Sir, you could do better than this. You over here eating the sweet potato pie out the pan with a spoon, you know what I'm saying? Just right in the middle of the pie. You know, that's weird, you know, and and and unkempt, you know. But anyway, you know, like you see him going out and immediately like you see his his dislike, his, his, his, his, uh, trying to think of a stronger word than dislike, that's not hatred. This day for these, you know, robots, these canners, right? And he sees one running with a purse. Right. And he is literally the only one who is like, hey, what's this robot doing running with a purse? Everybody else is like, the robot must be doing something good. Yeah. Because, right, and so when he finally gets to the robot, because he he chasing this robot for his life, but it's a robot. You know, it's meant to run at, you know, unhuman speeds. Like you cannot run as fast as this robot. But, you know, he finally catches up to the robot and turns out the robot had the asthma uh inhaler for the lady who, you know, was struggling to breathe. Right. And it's like I'm sitting there and I'm watching the people that are around her, and it's like they had abdicated the responsibility of caring for her to the robot. It's like, oh, okay, I don't really have to do anything for her because the robot is taking care of it. You know what I'm saying? Like, we don't have to rush her to the hospital, we'll have to call the ambulance with the EMTs. We don't have to, you know, see if there's a pharmacist or a doctor nearby, like, hey guys, is there a medical professional? No, no, no, no, no. The robots got it, right? And so I think even in our daily lives, moments where we could, you know, ask real professionals or consult people who are really, you know what I'm saying? And I do this for real now. I ain't going to the doctor for everything.

SPEAKER_03 26:14

No.

SPEAKER_05 26:15

I'm gonna go on Google. Yeah, Google gonna tell me what it is and what it ain't. Yeah, and if I should really be concerned, yeah, okay. Google or, you know, my best friend Joy, you know, who's a pharmacist, right? Uh, you know, like but but but mostly I'm Googling it. Okay, like, hey, what's this? Uh I got this little scar on my on my chin, you know. I'm trying to figure that out. I'm Googling it, right? But we we are we as a society are distrusting people, we're distrusting professions, we are distrusting expertise, right? Like, but we are so trusting of whatever whatever comes across our screens, yes, right? And I just think it's I think we are, you know, along with this whole identity piece where we're losing connection to our creator, right? Because we've become creators. And I think that's such an interesting dichotomy that when you step in the seat of being being the person that's able to manufacture something, you you distance yourself from your own process.

SPEAKER_03 27:31

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 27:31

Right. And it's just like Tower of Babel, Tower of Babel, right? Like the higher they got, the more they was like, hey, you know, I really believe in us.

SPEAKER_01 27:41

That's right. Yeah. Yeah. And that, and that, that's that, that's it becomes a danger, it becomes a very slippery slope. Um, I, you know, I think that, oh, first of all, there's a note that we need to say that producer Joyce said, we are not condoning using Google for medical advice. That is not what we are doing. And Jaquita, we're not doing that. Okay, we don't do that.

SPEAKER_05 28:05

I ain't saying for medical advice, I'm saying for your own research.

SPEAKER_01 28:08

No, and we don't condone Google for medical research. We know, no, nope, that is not something we're gonna sit here and yeah, don't diagnose yourself, people. Please don't do that. Please don't do that.

SPEAKER_05 28:19

Don't, don't, don't diagnose yourself.

SPEAKER_01 28:21

Don't do that. You call a real professional, a human being. Don't use chat, don't use Claude, don't do all that. You use a human

Faith, AI, And A Coming Reset

SPEAKER_01 28:30

person. Um, anyway, all right, that was a little plug. So I I listen to uh I listen, you know, I listen to different podcasts, and there's a there's a leadership podcast I listen to, and it's kind of uh uh uh focuses on church leadership and like um kind of um you know faith leaders and uh so it comes from that angle. But one of the th but he he kind of has been doing a lot of having a lot of conversations around AI and the church and AI and faith and how what what is happening to you know our generations and what it's doing and where it's going. And I it's really interesting, and this might it might feel like we're going off the rails here a little bit, but I don't think so.

SPEAKER_04 29:21

That's all right.

SPEAKER_01 29:22

When my I don't know what you think, Quita, but like I think you know, whenever we have these types of moments, it's almost like there's there's a setup happening. Um and I I do believe that we are headed down a road towards a setup for God to be reintroduced as God.

SPEAKER_05 29:48

Absolutely.

SPEAKER_01 29:49

I I really do. Absolutely, you know, I feel like we are we're we're just we're headed down a road in society where we're we collectively, most people are going to uh abdicate their trust to the to technology in a way we've never done before. And in that, we will lose a sense of uh security. We're gonna lose a sense of identity, we're gonna lose a sense of purpose.

SPEAKER_04 30:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 30:21

And I think that's going to make people question and say, all right, well, what am I here for really? If all these, if this technology and these humanoid robots and all these things that'll come in the next, you know, 20, 30, 40 years, uh, what what am I here for then? What why why am I even here? And I think even to the um uh to the point of the movie, when uh when you know Spooner he's he's trying to remain relevant as a cop, even to say like my who I am as a human is not irrelevant. We still need humans to do certain things. We need we can't

Purpose After Jobs Get Automated

SPEAKER_01 31:05

we can't just let these these machines just take take over. Um and and so there's a there's a character we haven't talked about, Sonny, right? Sonny is this sunny, he's the robot that was uh created to help to uh to stop the robot takeover, if you will. Right. And we start to see in the movie Sonny has a heart, if you will. Like he's got he's got that missing piece that the other robots don't have. He doesn't fully understand it, but he understands that he has a purpose. And he understands his purpose is to uh help almost put robots it keep robots in its place to where they are not uh they're not overusing their logic to take over what humans are supposed to do. He is he's kind of a brand.

SPEAKER_05 32:03

He's to manage the evolution of a robot. Right.

SPEAKER_01 32:06

And I think like, you know, so it's it's I think that's an interesting dynamic. And when I it's the purpose factor that we are gonna be faced with here very, very soon, it's already happening. You know, people are losing their jobs. Um most people's purpose is lives within their work. Um, I don't I don't necessarily advocate for that, but that's the way we think about it. And so when you begin to lose your work or lose your career options to other things, you're like, okay, what's my purpose now? What am I supposed to be doing with my time, with my energy, with my talents? And uh the the way that the way that we are gonna suffer, I think, as humans through that, we're gonna it's going to force us to depend on a bridge back to where we actually belong. Yeah and and and we have we've got where that it's gonna, I think it's gonna pull us closer um to God and to each other because we'll have this desperation that ultimately we realize AI is not gonna be able to fix. And um, I don't I don't know that we it'll come, it'll feel like it's coming close, but it won't fix it. Um and that's gonna be a rude awakening, I think, for a lot of people, but it will open the door for a new beginning, I think for society. Now that's just my I don't know. I don't know. I don't know what you think.

SPEAKER_05 33:35

I I definitely think so, and I definitely think that what we learned or what we saw in the movie was uh it was almost like people's understanding coming. Like uh there's there's another character, uh the psychologist, Susan Calvin, okay, and she is just all belief that the robots, because she was part of creating their temperament, right? And and making them seem more human, right? Like that was her role, right? And so like she's like, I know the programming, right? I I was with Dr. Lanning, who's like the head chief doctor who designed the robots, excuse me, created these three laws, right? Um that that kind of govern the ways that the robots interact and build a connection with humans, right? And she's like, no, I was there at their inception. I know everything that went into their processing and how they function. And I'm the one who, you know, added the sauce, all right. And I understand the inner workings, and so I truly believe that a robot would never be anti-anything that we created them to be, right? And that's so funny, you know. I what uh what a uh very conceited uh place to be, you know, to think that like the things that we created will never go past our intention, right? When even when even the creator himself had to like his realization was these humans are gonna go off the rails.

SPEAKER_01 35:28

When he didn't, he knew it.

SPEAKER_05 35:31

Yeah. Like he created us, he knew when he when he gave us the breath of God, and that we had creative power, that we had authority in the earth, when he when he gave us himself, when he made us like him, right? When he when he said, let's create them in our image, he knew that he was creating beings that could choose a path he didn't intend for them.

SPEAKER_01 36:02

That's correct. That's right.

SPEAKER_05 36:04

And we live in that in that

Sonny’s Search To Be A Who

SPEAKER_05 36:07

tension of are we, are we going, have we created a plan outside of the creator's intention for us? And I think Sonny, I think his journey is probably to me the most interesting out of everyone's, right? Because you see the psychologist, uh Susan, you see her coming into this realization that, like, oh, okay, wait a minute. Maybe I'm not as smart as I thought I was. Maybe I don't have as much control as I thought I did, right? And then you see, you even see uh Spooner's character saying, hey, you know, the Sonny ain't so bad. And I need him. Yeah, he's part of the revolution. Yeah. Right. He's he he is a masterful piece of the plan, right? And at the end, they shake hands, they give each other a little wink, you know, they're friends, you know, like he becomes friends with the AI because he he's had to learn balance. But I think Sonny, the evolution of Sonny throughout the movie, where he asks, you know, who am I? Like, what am I? Like, you know, like and he's like asking, like, I don't want to be a what, I want to be a who, right? Like I was created with more inside of me. Why am I here? Like, why am I here? Yeah, right. Like, like I I have the three laws, I have the same makeup as everybody else, but I have something else operating on the inside of me that's pushing me toward a purpose that I haven't realized yet. Right. And I think that his journey really uh parallels the journey that a lot of us face. Yeah. That like we're like, okay, I I I get, you know, just like the the basic understanding of who I am. I don't understand the application.

SPEAKER_03 38:01

Mm-hmm.

SPEAKER_05 38:02

Right. Like I get, like, I get I'm smart. You know, like for me growing up, I always knew I was smart. I always knew because, you know, they were putting me in the little gifted and talented program. I used to love going out to that little trailer. They'd be like, all right, it's time for the the gifted and talented students. And, you know, we ain't go nowhere special as a little trailer out back. All right. And we went in there and we did math problems, you know, it was fun, you know, because we thought it was fun. Right. But I I I but I I never knew what the application of that was. And there he goes through this process of discovery where it's not AI or um technology for the sake of technology. It's I I am playing a role in the evolution of human history and in the evolution of my kind, right? Like he has a role to play. And I think that, and at the end, where he realizes, because he had the dream, right? And in the dream, there's a character standing on a mountain looking at mountains of robots. And they're like, oh yeah, Sonny, that's you. He's like, no, that's that's Spooner. And at the end, he realizes, no, it was me. That's me. Like, yeah, like what I saw that I thought somebody else was supposed to do, it was for me. Um, and so I think his evolution was really interesting to watch, but it took it took all of them coming to a balanced place in order to overcome Vicky, all right? Big old Vic, all right, because Vicky Vic wasn't playing, okay? She was like the main hardware system that was powering all of the robots, right? And she was like, you know what? I got a new plan.

SPEAKER_01 39:48

Yeah.

SPEAKER_05 39:49

Right. I got I got a new a new thing I think we need to have going on out here. And it's called Robots Run This. Okay. It's called Robots Do What We Wanna Do. Okay. She she had a brand new system at play. And um I think it's interesting that Sonny as a technology was created to uh was created to combat technology. That technology was created to to combat the technology. And that's where we find ourselves, right? Because when what you created gets you in a bond, you create something else.

SPEAKER_01 40:26

Yes, that's right. And uh there's there's you create a solution. And the the okay, I'm not trying to get all like extra and

A Savior Story Hidden In Tech

SPEAKER_01 40:36

spiritual in here, but it's really interesting. You know, I I don't know. You if I'm stretching this, you know, let me know. But I do think, you know, as we're talking, you know, it it uh sunny can be a type of of like a uh uh of Christ in a way. What I mean by that is All right, y'all. Thank y'all for coming to the next one. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, listen, listen.

SPEAKER_05 41:02

Listen, listen, listen, listen. Listen to what I'm saying, listen to what I'm saying.

SPEAKER_01 41:06

Listen to what I'm saying. Hold on, hold on. Just listen to something. Hold on, let me work it out.

SPEAKER_05 41:09

I don't know if I'm gonna be able to.

SPEAKER_01 41:11

Let me work it out. I'm not I'm not not making a direct comparison. Let me clear, be very clear on that. I'm not making a direct comparison. What I'm saying is, what you're like what you're what we're what we're talking about is this idea of, you know, you have uh the the cre the creator, Dr. Lanning. Um, and there is a there he knows that Vicky has gone off the rails. He knows that Vicky is now in a in a predicament where she has she is going she is going after more control than she's designed to have. So he's got to create something. He's gotta create a a robot, a a robot, somebody who looks like robots and his name is Sunny. And his name is Sonny, right? And he and he and he looks like robots, feels understands robots, but also knows I'm different. And he also knows that his his purpose is to his purpose is to be a bridge back to the way it's supposed to be.

SPEAKER_05 42:18

I really hate that that you have come to this conclusion. I mean, I really, really hate because you know what we what what we always say where I'm from is that Hollywood steal everything from the Bible. I mean Okay, all these ideas come from the Bible. Okay, they some thieves and some robbers, but I hate, I hate that I can see what you're saying. I really, really hate it. You're welcome. Um but I and uh it makes me want to side eye the whole movie all over again. Okay, side eyeing the whole movie because now I think it has some nefarious intentions.

SPEAKER_01 43:05

Um I don't know.

SPEAKER_05 43:09

I don't like there being a savior of the robots.

SPEAKER_01 43:12

Well, I I think I but I think you're right. I I do think like the Bible is is is it's it's it's the it's the about the existence and the relationship, God, God and his creation. I mean that's that's what it is, and how God needs to uh who's who's out God wants to bring his creation back to him and needed a um uh an a human, a perfect human to do that. That like God God had to do, and so I'm just saying, I at its at its broadest, in its broadest story form, I agree with you. A lot of movies are that because that's the reality of the world. And and so what we do is we put our we put our our spectacles. spin on it and usually make humans the hero, not God the hero. And that that that's usually where the where the where the issue is. And when you see that, it's like humans are the ones who are elevated to the top. When God really should be the one elevated to the top. But but it's the same storyline. Like it's the same storyline. So I see that as a storyline. And if you look at it like that, you can you can kind of see okay we really have to get ourselves in order. We got to put the put put people put things back in their place. And um yeah so anyway don't hate on the movie I'm hating on the movie now.

SPEAKER_05 44:40

Don't hate on the movie. But anywho uh I you know but I really going back to this idea of really uh uh like us

Analog Living And Naming Our Era

SPEAKER_05 44:55

seeking seeking things we create over seeking the creator right like I I do think that there is this you know even throughout the movie like will spit Will Smith's character spooner is always like I'm going manual right like I'ma I'ma drive this car like because I don't want technology driving my car you know it's so funny when the psychologist came to his house and she was trying to turn the music on and she was like oh yeah yeah yeah yeah and she was trying to talk to it and he was like nah girl yeah analog okay like yeah yeah no like this we we we don't do we don't do robots in this house um I think I think we are getting to a point like you said where there I I've been saying for a while that we're on the brink of revival where there's this sense of of we all have to come back not just to the knowledge of God but when you come into the knowledge of God you come into the realization of you know who am I that thou art mindful of me you know you come into the realization of you know what being God's child really is what being God's creation really is and I think that in a lot of ways we've taken we have taken control over so many things and I think that we're all starting to see the results of that we're all like yeah this is not working out it's not working it's not working this this ain't working out you know even even when you look at some of the ideas around how we think and feel about each other you know all the isms you know the genderism the racism the sexism the you know all of all of the classisms the way we have divided ourselves you know and and created these ranking systems amongst each other right like I think that there has to be revolution in that and that only comes that's not gonna come from us continuing to have the power to rely on ourselves right like one and there's also this humanism uh argument that's like well we can depend on each other and get there yeah right but I think God is gonna make it abundantly clear that society we as a people we as believers we don't move forward without him yes I mean it's it's just just true we you cannot call it you cannot call yourself a progressive society that does not have a dependency a reliance and a relationship with God with the creator and I definitely think that we are we are in the midst of that right now I agree like we are we are at the great turning point you know at when I was in divinity school like I used to love how like all these eras throughout history had a name you know like you know like you had the Reconstruction era the Jim Crow era you know it was there um you had uh uh the Great Awakenings right like and I used to I used to really love that somebody went back and named the season that we're in and I always wonder when people look back a hundred years from now what will they name the season that we're in um because you know with the technology piece with the political piece with the social unrest piece with the you know everything happening in the faith world in the education world in the uh in the financial world like you know like you know there was the Great Depression or there was you know like there's all these different time periods that have names and they weren't that long ago no right and so like we in this you know modernistic time I think we I think they now say we're not in modernism anymore we're in postmodern times right like that's what they call it now like I'm wondering like when we look back on what we've been through as a society right because there's your own individual life and what you're facing in your own world but then there's like this broader general like societal tension right and what are we gonna name this what what are we gonna call this season um and I and I really started thinking about that during COVID like you know because you had the first great awakening and then you had the second great awakening I say are we gonna have a third you know you had World War I world war two we're praying to the good the great Jehovah that we don't see ourselves in three right but what are we what is gonna be the theme of the season that we're in and I think it's gonna it's gonna be up to the I hate using this term so I'm gonna find another term the changing the changing component okay is what I'm saying you didn't want to say I was gonna say turning point okay just saying right I don't I ain't trying to get caught up you understand but but the pivot like our our pivot point okay okay you know but it it's gonna be determined by the spooners it's gonna be determined by the people who didn't get caught up in what everybody else thought was right who didn't get caught up by what everyone else believed right was was right but who stayed true to some to some internal founding principles and beliefs right who who stayed connected to a sense of what is God doing in the season and not just what I see everybody else doing. Right it's gonna it's the the new season will be determined by the discerners it will be determined by the people who have an ear to hear who are able to see and um and pick out where God is speaking versus all the other voices in the atmosphere and because he maintained that throughout the entire movie right like he never backed down from this belief even when he was the only one experiencing the negative consequences. Yeah he was the only one actually seeing the truth and nobody believed him like you have to ask yourself am I willing to be the only person that believes that's real no no no if I if I step into a space am I willing and not just to be because here's another sector that we have in society right now we have people who believe but are silent we have people who know the right thing and have discerned what is happening but who say nothing who influence no one they hold it to themselves right if we're going to we have the ability right now we have the uh we have the opportunity right to name the season we have the opportunity to decide what this next turn what this next pivot is going to look like for our society and that's not gonna happen from the people who choose to focus on only on themselves.

SPEAKER_01 52:59

Yeah it's gonna happen by the people who are willing to have a societal uh kingdom impact I I I think you're right I think I think the while as you're as you were talking I think it's also really interesting I like how you talked about this naming naming things like I would be curious as to how close to the activity what did the names come because I I don't know that I don't know you know the Great Depression was that named you know in the middle of it a couple years after or like you know decades later I don't know um I'd be curious there is a part of me that Hey Siri when was the I didn't get that I'm sorry girl I'm sorry and there you go um so yeah that's funny so we so I I just because I think yes the discerners and the and sometimes the distant observers so like we'll name the thing based on what the outcome is in the in the middle of it you don't know what the outcome is and so there's no predicting that so those of us who are living this day to day we don't actually know we can name it for what it is now but we don't know a hundred years from now what the outcome will be. And a lot of times I think it takes people who are observing from a distance to be able to put an actual name and definition to something that the people who are living in it couldn't see because they're in the middle of it. And and we might never we might never know what that what that becomes to the future people that are going to be seeing it and that'll study it. You know I think I don't know I think that's a really interesting it's it's something interesting to think about like how how how will people see this? What what will people pull out of it that is going to make it um you know so so like even the Jim Crow era right for certain people that era that that era does not hold as much weight as it does for us right when we talk about that but that's not the only thing that was happening then you know I'm saying so it's like there there's so but but we we pull it out because for us when I say us I mean black people in America that was that was a waiting time for our people but for other people who weren't experiencing that that's not how they observe that era. So they may not call it that or they may not identify with that name. And so I think I think it's just I think it's it's just it's just a it's I don't know it's just be interesting. Anyway what people will see this as who names it you know who's impacted by that name and how much um how much that will how how much that will actually inform the future decisions. I think it'd be really interesting. Anyway yeah so yeah that this is you know when we picked this movie really didn't know we don't I mean we we knew it's like you know AI we we feel like we need we should have a conversation around this it's very relevant y'all to be honest we didn't really know where we were going too much um with it because it's one of those movies that's like it's it is it's more it's more entertaining it's it's a very entertaining movie it's an action movie but when you really look at it there's some depth to it now that we even really fully realize till we started talking yeah so we surprised

Closing And How To Support

SPEAKER_01 56:56

ourselves. Thanks for making it this far guys yeah thanks for making it this far appreciate you yeah yeah this was good um so we are gonna see y'all next week we're we're done look we want you to uh like share subscribe comment we want you to be a part of this community if this had any value to you at all share it with somebody else don't keep it to yourself and until then what we're gonna do is we're gonna keep unlearning together okay so that we can experience more freedom. See y'all later. Thank you once again for listening to the Unlearned podcast we would love to hear your comments and your feedback about the episode feel free to follow us on Facebook and Instagram and to let us know what you think. We're looking forward to the next time when we are able to unlearn together to move forward towards freedom. See you then