August 6, 2025
My son came up with a great idea that I am going to run with. He was joking about what an AI Grill would be like as I was driving him to work today.
Not to go off too far on a tangent, he was also talking about how it would be nice if there was public transit to his work, but that's a post for another time. He is between cars at the moment and doesn't seem too interested in purchasing another right now since he's saving money not paying for one, so I am his driver. It is fun driving him because it gives us time to talk after he was away at college. My son always comes up with fun points that make me think about things in a different way, so it is always wise to listen to what he wants to share.
We continued joking back and forth about what an AI Grill would be named. I suggested it should be named after one of the billionaires who is pushing AI everywhere. I would share some of the names, but since he works for a subsidary of a big-tech business, it's better to not name any names in case the all-seeing magic stones are watching and listening for mentions. They might have already listened in because my cell phone was in the car. I'm kidding, but maybe not.
As we were spitballing on how the food would be made. I was thinking in an analog way. I suggested people would have the AI craft a meal, a printer would print an AI drawing, a robot would deliver it to the table, and the diner would eat the paper. It was all concepts that are happening today with robot carts with electronic cat faces passing out food in Asia. Or, it could come from a 3D printer, like a real-life Star Trek replicator that could create food products. All practical ideas someone at a fast food chain might be working on implementing as you read this.
My son said that was behind the times. Nobody would eat IRL in the AI Grill world. All the food and transactions would occur in the Metaverse. You would have to make sure your character was fed enough or else it would die. The billionaires would have their legislators make it illegal to not feed your online characters. It would be a lot like the Tamagotchi toys. Except, you might end up being locked up in an ICE prison because there weren't any more immigrants to round up, but the bosses still needed a body count to keep the prison-industry investors happy and satified. A lot of congress people and cabinet members have funds tied up in private prison stocks, after all.
I laughed, then dropped him off at work.
As I was pulling out of the parking lot and onto the high-speed stroad designed to scare pedestrians and bicyclists into never attempting to travel along it, I drove a little further on the road and saw an ice cream place with a big poster of the "Good Jeans" woman. I wistfully thought she might have once tempted me to stop and get a cone, but I'll pass right now. I like her because she always looks a little sad. It resonates with me. That glumness I feel could be a factor of me needing my SSRI to get back to its proper level. I wrote about my delayed prescription refill yesterday.
Just then, I passed the "Beef Tallow" place based in Indy that the brainworm health admiistrator loves. I used to like that place more when they had breakfast.
Then it hit me. The AI Grill chat wasn't just a fun thought experiment. It isn't a joke. It's the future. Someday, we will all be required to subscribe to meal plans, pay rent, and virtual medical care, to keep our designed AI characters in the virtual world alive.
Somewhere on a yatch in the Mediterranean an alert sounds on an iPad connected via Starlink. An AI assistant advises it has an idea for a new revenue source it has found while trawling through the internet scraping data from obscure and random websites.
Back to KrissyKat's Home.
