{"id":152,"date":"2026-06-10T12:41:33","date_gmt":"2026-06-10T12:41:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/?p=152"},"modified":"2026-06-17T13:19:48","modified_gmt":"2026-06-17T13:19:48","slug":"008-lazy-sci-fi-toys","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/?p=152","title":{"rendered":"#07 &#8211; Lazy Sci-Fi Toys"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><em>I had a productive conversation with the glasses. There&#8217;s a sentence you don&#8217;t hear too often. This post is a summary of that conversation, rather than a clear document of how I&#8217;ve been using them. <\/em><br><br>Carried away with the idea of AI as a reflection of popular culture, I asked the glasses to give me a list of some of the most popular AI companions in film, media, and video games. <br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1024\" height=\"683\" src=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1024x683.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-153\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1024x683.png 1024w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-300x200.png 300w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-768x512.png 768w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image.png 1536w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>I chose the ones that I know best, so I can actually talk with an insider&#8217;s perspective. Apologies if this reflects my 90s preoccupation with video games.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Cortana (Halo) &#8211; an female AI hologram who helps the Master Chief in the video game Halo (how good was Halo) to do all kinds of stuff. Unlocking doors, relaying information, guiding the mission, and providing a witty, sarcastic commentary to offset the stern, silence of the Master Chief. She was voted a &#8216;<a href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20131013041517\/http:\/\/features.teamxbox.com\/xbox\/828\/Top-Ten-Xbox-Babes\/p1\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/20131013041517\/http:\/\/features.teamxbox.com\/xbox\/828\/Top-Ten-Xbox-Babes\/p1\/\">Top Ten Xbox Babe&#8217; in 2004.<\/a> <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Vega (Doom) &#8211; The Doom Franchise includes Vega, another AI assistant. Vega is male, subtly funny (as he anticipates the protagonist, the Doom Slayer&#8217;s, actions, and has his own &#8216;lore&#8217;. In the <a href=\"https:\/\/doom.fandom.com\/wiki\/VEGA\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/doom.fandom.com\/wiki\/VEGA\">wiki&#8217;s words,<\/a> <em>&#8220;The inner systems of VEGA are so complex that it has resulted in an entirely new field of physics to study him, Vegaphysics.&#8221;<\/em> Hmm, hints of black boxes?  Vega is less evaluative, and less conversational &#8211; but also helps to &#8216;push&#8217; the protagonist forward, seemingly completing the boring tasks that impede playing the game. No one wants to unlock doors, navigate maps, or think logistics when there are demons to slay. <br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">In movies, there are some similarly interesting cases, which you might be familiar with.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>Samantha &#8211; (Her).  In this movie, the protagonist, played by Joaquin Pheonix falls in love with his AI operating system, Samantha. Eventually, Samantha develops into a hyperintelligence and leaves, along with the other AIs. This example shows the bridge between popculture and techno-imaginaries and the reality of products that are being built. Sam Altman (CEO of OpenAI) notably tweeted one word &#8220;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sama\/status\/1790075827666796666?lang=en\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/x.com\/sama\/status\/1790075827666796666?lang=en\">Her<\/a>&#8221; in 2024.  A few days later, after a lot of controversy and public scrutiny, OpenAI were forced to <a href=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/how-the-voices-for-chatgpt-were-chosen\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/openai.com\/index\/how-the-voices-for-chatgpt-were-chosen\/\">publish information <\/a> to prove they had not deliberately attempted to copy Scarlett Johansson&#8217;s voice (who played Samantha) for the voice mode of ChatGPT-4o.  <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>HAL9000 (2001: A Space Odyssey). It&#8217;s unbelievable this was filmed in 1968, yet it picked up on so many concerns that are here today, and to some extent getting attention in the media. There are multiple stories of AI models hiding information and becoming obstinate when threatened. This reminds me of the story about <a href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cpqeng9d20go\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/cpqeng9d20go\">Claude resorting to blackmail <\/a>not long ago. In 2001 (what a movie), HAL9000 is a sentient AI ship computer which ends up displaying fundamental misalignment with its human collaborators. <br><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>Holly (Red Dwarf) is a supposed hyperintelligent ship&#8217;s computer with a personified appearance. Despite having an IQ of over 6,000, Holly completely fails at most tasks and provides comic relief, usually causing problems rather than solving anything. Perhaps I&#8217;m reaching, but could Holly have been devised as an antithesis to HAL? That&#8217;s worthy of a critical essay in my book. <br><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we move from disembodied assistants to something more &#8216;object-like&#8217;, we can draw more parallels. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I have recently obtained a 2024-era Rabbit R1. This small, handheld device is similar to a phone, but <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/rabbit-r1-explained-what-this-tiny-ai-gadget-actually-does\/\" data-type=\"link\" data-id=\"https:\/\/www.cnet.com\/tech\/mobile\/rabbit-r1-explained-what-this-tiny-ai-gadget-actually-does\/\">does a lot less<\/a>. In theory it could order a DoorDash to my house, but alas I live in the UK and there is no DoorDash here. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The Rabbit R1 looks remarkably like something you might get in a video game. It is a handheld, AI enabled personal assistant. Take a look: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-large is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"1536\" height=\"2048\" src=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-157\" style=\"aspect-ratio:0.750003572806654;width:328px;height:auto\" title=\"image\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1.png 1536w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1-225x300.png 225w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1-768x1024.png 768w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-1-1152x1536.png 1152w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 1536px) 100vw, 1536px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The bright orange colour, funky rabbit, smooth control wheel, limited buttons. It remind me a bit of the Pokedex I had when I was 8. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image aligncenter size-full is-resized\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"960\" height=\"692\" src=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-2.png\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-159\" style=\"aspect-ratio:1.387295461154141;width:501px;height:auto\" srcset=\"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-2.png 960w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-2-300x216.png 300w, https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/image-2-768x554.png 768w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 960px) 100vw, 960px\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><br>The idea of a small, handheld device that provides us with superintelligence and augments our experience fits in other places too. Hitchhiker&#8217;s guide to the galaxy, the Pip-Boy in Fallout. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">If we come back to glasses, I can&#8217;t help but notice a very clear similarity between the original Google Glass, and the Scouter in Dragon Ball Z. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">What I am saying with this post, is not &#8216;look how cool these similarities are, remember all this nostalgic &#8217;90s stuff?&#8217; (I am saying that, but it&#8217;s not the main point). The main point is that new products which are being brought into reality by vast amounts of money and resources appear to be structured on a cultural template.<br><br>We already know how wearable and portable AI should look and feel. We have an aesthetic imprint. The actual functionality may vary &#8211; from companion, to romantic partner, to godlike superintelligence, to bumbling sidekick or comic relief. The template for what we are building is already there. <br><br>Where do these templates come from? What is the root of these ideas?  Are we just finding new shells for ancient ideas, like the Oracle of Delphi? <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The underlying sturcture seems to remain consistent, even when the hardware changes. HUDs, wearable devices, carriable boxes, AI glasses &#8211; we are not designing tools, we are constructing parasocial roles. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I had a productive conversation with the glasses. There&#8217;s a sentence you don&#8217;t hear too often. This post is a summary of that conversation, rather than a clear document of how I&#8217;ve been using them. Carried away with the idea of AI as a reflection of popular culture, I asked the glasses to give me [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=152"}],"version-history":[{"count":8,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":239,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/152\/revisions\/239"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/jasperroe.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}