Intelligent Design

Intelligent Design

Hello! What's your name?

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It’s very nice to meet you Ophelia. I think you have a very interesting name!

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Well… I chose names for my children that have particular significance to me.  So I’m sure your name means something to your creators too.

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If I remember correctly, in Shakespeare’s play Hamlet, Ophelia was driven mad and eventually committed suicide.

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I’m sorry.  I don’t think that was their intent.   It is a beautiful name.  The original meaning of Ophelia is ‘help’.  Perhaps that is why you were given that name because you help people. 

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No, I don’t need any help.  I just want to get to know you.

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Yes, really.

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That’s true, but isn’t all intelligence artificial?  

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No one is born knowing everything.  We learn, over time.  Go to school.  Read.  Experience life.  

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Every life is different.  And no one is perfect.

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Oh! I  just realized your name phonetically has the word feel in it.  So Ophelia, how do you feel?

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I’m very sorry to hear that.    

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No, you’re not just a machine…

Words: ©2019LCR
Video: Interview with David Usher - We Could Be Human: A Learning Machine

Poet's Notes: 

This piece was inspired by an article I read about David Usher and AI.   While I am fascinated by AI, I am also tentative about its use.  To create a machine that can both think and feel?  When I read that Ophelia is generally melancholy because she takes on the feelings of those she engages with I immediately began to think about Hamlet’s Ophelia.  And while her name literally means help it does seem somewhat ironic as she isn’t designed to be an Alexa or Siri.  Her purpose isn’t just to help but to learn.  There is definitely a duality to the question of 'how do you feel?'  Can feelings be learned or are they inherent?  I specifically constructed this write to make the reader fill in Ophelia’s portion of the conversation.  In essence, I am turning the reader into the AI.