Walking Through Bethnal Green It Occurred to Me That AI Has Replaced the Men Who Said Hang On
Jack
Handey,
East
London,
on
the
AI
testing
catastrophe,
the
loss
of
institutional
scepticism,
and
very
good
curry
By
Jack
Handey
for
Bohiney
Magazine
and
The
London
Prat.
Deep
Thoughts,
Bethnal
Green,
Monday
Sometimes,
when
I
am
walking
through
Bethnal
Green
past
the
old
market
and
the
new
flats
that
replaced
the
old
flats
that
replaced
something
else,
I
think
about
how
much
of
civilisation
depends
on
people
whose
job
title
is
essentially
“hang
on
a
moment.”
The
planning
inspector.
The
editor.
The
quality
assurance
engineer.
The
person
in
the
meeting
who
says
“before
we
proceed.”
These
are
the
people
who
stand
between
intention
and
catastrophe,
and
they
are
the
people
the
AI
is
now
replacing,
beginning
with
the
testing
team.
The
testing
team,
per
the
dispatch
from
the
catastrophe,
used
to
say
“hang
on
a
moment,
you
can’t
price
things
at
zero.”
The
AI
does
not
say
this.
The
AI
says
“aggressively
competitive
market
positioning,”
which
is
technically
a
sentence
and
practically
useless.
The
car
boot
sale
followed.
The
East
London
Perspective
In
Bethnal
Green
there
is
a
long
tradition
of
things
being
sold
at
prices
that
raise
questions.
The
market,
the
second-hand
furniture,
the
inexplicably
cheap
electronics
from
a
van.
We
have
our
own
quality
assurance
culture
here.
It
is
called
“having
a
look”
and
“asking
around”
and
“not
buying
it
if
Derek
seems
too
eager.”
These
are
informal
mechanisms.
They
work.
The
AI
has
not
replaced
Derek.
Derek
is,
in
this
respect,
still
employed.
I
had
a
saag
paneer
and
thought
about
the
future.
According
to
BBC
Technology,
AI
is
creating
efficiencies
across
the
economy.
The
saag
paneer
was
not
made
by
an
AI.
It
was
made
by
a
man
named
Rajesh
who
has
been
making
it
for
fourteen
years
and
would
say
“hang
on
a
moment”
if
you
put
wrong
things
in
it.
Rajesh
is
irreplaceable.
I
tipped
accordingly.
SOURCE:
https://bohiney.com
