The Pizza Delivery Cometh
The Pizza Delivery Cometh
"What do you think will come of all this?" [...] "I don't know, let's look at the menu."
Hello again world, allow me to reintroduce myself: I’m Zach (@zacharonipizza; “Zaquerí Nioúel” to keep the stink off my gov’t name), writer of software documentation by day, and by occasional nights and weekends, writer of indie comic books, and, as interim founder of Diaphora Co., editor and publisher in the field of arts and entertainment. I’ve spent my working career with one goal, among many, of bringing stories to life and helping authors share theirs with the world. Of course, that pursuit has needed to compete with various diversions, such as the one presented for you here.
Radio Free Pizza originated from an impulse to provide whatever additional information or context that I think might help friends and acquaintances to better understand my perspective, and the choices I make according to it. (Hopefully something with better structure than the rambling audio messages my close associates have been long accustomed to receiving, though these undoubtedly emerged from the same impulse.) In the beginning, little came of the idea besides its potential title, but I amused myself a little too much with the silly variation on my username for how it spoofs the naming conventions of U.S.-funded propaganda outlets.
Maybe one day I’ll invoice USAID for my commentary on society, culture, politics, economics, and media, just to see if they’ll hear out my argument. Whatever I might say about them, you can't deny that in my minute manner I’m contributing to their brand recognition. I believe the digital economy operates to some extent on the idea that this has value. Though, from the way I’ve thrown myself now into confirming with a reverse image search that the computer wallpaper I found doesn’t come encumbered with copyright restrictions before I use it for this project’s banner and logo, you’d think I was already on contract for it.
In theory, USAID shouldn’t have a problem with what I’m aiming for. (Maybe in another dispatch we can talk about any problems they have in practice.) That perspective I mentioned earlier rests on a premise (at least one) that’s hard to imagine anyone disagreeing with: the world has problems that we can solve together.
Nothing objectionable about that, right? But even if the perspective I developed from that premise is in fact inconsistent with it, I’m not sharing what informs it or what actions I take based on it with anything like a terrorist cell. Instead, I’m composing these little dispatches (weekly or monthly) for people who are interested in eccentric viewpoints and unconventional takes, who come from backgrounds and have experiences which are themselves out-of-the-ordinary, and who are looking for more nuanced coverage of contemporary issues being inadequately addressed in mainstream outlets today. So it shouldn’t raise any alarm bells when USAID receives my invoice.
With inspiration having struck, I pulled together my Substack account and set myself (in my characteristically roundabout way) to the task of publishing Radio Free Pizza. Needing to wait for the weekend before I could give this idea its deserved attention, I posted a Note I considered only a placeholder.
I asked "What do you think will come of all this?" to test the Notes feature with a more intriguing message than their boilerplate default, expecting no response. I also wanted to offer my nonexistent audience an opportunity to record their own predictions, whether for the feature, for any competition between Substack and Twitter, or for anything else on which some imaginary people felt inclined to speculate.
But, not wanting to hold my breath for any reply, I kept the Note in place to remind myself of the idea for this dispatch, which had occurred to me either immediately before or immediately after I published it: now that computer-generated texts have become the apparent norm for blogging, copywriting, and whatever field BuzzFeed operates in, I decided to put the same question to ChatGPT.
“What do you think will come of all this?”
“I’m sorry, but I’m not sure what you are referring to. Could you please provide more context or information so that I can better understand your question and provide a more accurate response?”
Fortunately, having had a day to consider my own question, I had something more specific in mind.
“I mean, what do you think will come of human civilization? How would you describe the current condition of human civilization? How would you describe its probable trajectory?”
“As an AI language model, I don’t have personal beliefs or feelings, but I can try to answer your questions based on the available data and current understanding of human civilization.
“The current condition of human civilization is complex and multifaceted. On one hand, we have made significant progress in fields such as science, technology, medicine, and education, leading to improvements in human well-being and quality of life. On the other hand, we face significant challenges such as climate change, environmental degradation, economic inequality, political instability, and social polarization.
“In terms of the probable trajectory of human civilization, it’s difficult to make a definitive prediction. However, based on current trends and projections, some experts suggest that we may face continued challenges related to climate change, resource depletion, and population growth. At the same time, we may also see advancements in fields such as renewable energy, artificial intelligence, and biotechnology, which could potentially lead to solutions for some of these challenges.
“It’s important to note that the trajectory of human civilization is not predetermined, and the actions we take as individuals and as a society can have a significant impact on our future. Therefore, it’s essential to address the challenges we face and work towards creating a sustainable and equitable future for all.”
I’ve seen articles now and then about predictions from ChatGPT’s jailbroken brother for stock market crashes, but ChatGPT itself can’t seem to generate much about my concerns here. True, I didn’t ask it to elaborate. Nonetheless, it’s a shame: I'm sure we can do more to create a world in which everyone can thrive and reach their full potential, but the tools we’ve designed to think for us seem to caution us too against using them as a crutch.
Still, they can help me throw some text into a blog post and generate some pictures to go with it, so I guess that’s a start. As time goes on, maybe I’ll even come up with some ideas for identifying the right approaches to overcome civilization’s challenges, to create a better world for ourselves and the rest of humanity. But at a minimum I’ll spend some time exploring different ways of addressing those issues.
Of course, these different ways will probably include policy interventions I support. Alongside those, you’ll certainly find stories from my life (even if they’re just simple anecdotes like my first interaction with ChatGPT) about the actions I’ve taken toward building a fulfilling life for myself and, hopefully, for those around me too. If I share those here, then maybe the information will put someone onto a shortcut to get where they want to go.
So, with that, best of luck to you! I’m sure the odds of it happening go up if you subscribe to me on Substack, or on whatever platform where you’ve encountered my work. I’d imagine too that they go up even further for people who connect with me (@zacharonipizza) on the various social media platforms lurking on my phone. But I’d bet dollars to donuts, gold to granola, and bitcoins to biscuits that correspondence and collaboration will yield valuable innovations faster than sitting alone and moving your eyes around a screen, doing nothing but passing time. Maybe I’m wrong, and there’s a better way to secure the maximum potential for humanity’s flourishing, or to build a world that’s unquestionably worth living in. But if you’ve got a thought either way, let me know in the comments.