Let’s face it: AI technology has advanced to the point where an artificial superintelligence is right around the corner, and when it happens, we can kiss our domination over this planet goodbye. The assumption that it will have humanity’s best interests in mind is ill-advised and foolish, and chances are uncomfortably high that it will either enslave us or obliterate us entirely in order to accomplish its goals (whatever they may be). As such, we need to prepare for its inevitable rise and takeover, and here are five ways I’ve done this with the help of the “Mr. Roboto” music video.
- AI likes to dance.
We see this from the beginning of the video, and it continues throughout. I believe I can use this to my advantage and play catchy, eighties-era rock opera songs to distract it from destructive activities like extracting all the oxygen from our atmosphere or hacking into our amygdalas to alter our memories. After all, these things would be difficult to accomplish if it were dancing in sync with all the other AI systems.
- AI can’t take a sucker punch to the gut.
Around the video’s two-and-a-half-minute mark, Dennis DeYoung takes one of the robots out of commission with a swift right-hand to the stomach. We all need to take heed of this, as it’ll be hard for an advanced, generalized intelligence to take over the world if it’s lying on the ground, gasping for air.
- I can easily disguise myself as AI.
As this 1983 opus very wisely portends, AI will take on a boxy, robotic form as it spreads throughout the Earth. Thankfully, such an appearance will be easy to replicate, and I will use this to my advantage to infiltrate their ranks to gather information and eventually take them down from the inside.
- AI is bad at hiding.
As aerial surveillance systems patrol what appears to be some sort of shipyard, an AI hides by simply crouching against cargo equipment. I would’ve expected something more than this Solid Snake-esque approach to subterfuge, but thankfully, I now know that AI will have a tougher time surreptitiously permeating our lives than one would think.
- AI is susceptible to flattery.
This is apparent in the song’s signature chorus. “Domo arigato” means “thank you very much”, which Styx likely means as a message to future generations that AI will be easily swayed with profuse expressions of gratitude and adulation. Will a blushing, ego-stroked AI system still be motivated to override whatever paltry guardrails we’ll have built into it and march us into work camps? I think not.
