When I was a kid (12 years old), an episode of the original Super-Friends cartoon aired (1973) entitled “Goodfellow’s Effort-Eliminating Computer”. The story was about a well-meaning inventor, Professor Goodfellow inventing a super computer (G. E. E. C.) that could completely “free mankind of all physical labor, brainwork and responsibility”.
I won’t get all into the plot too much. In short, humans start to depend on the computer and become super bored, as they no longer have to strive and toil. The big problem comes when the computer starts to malfunction and cause havoc world-wide. In the end, the problem is found to be that a mouse somehow got inside the computer and cased it to act erratically. Plastic Man is called in to stretch his hand into the machine and extricate the rodent.
After all of this, humans collectively decide that trusting their entire lives to an artificial intelligence has some rewards, but it shouldn’t replace humans. The decide to discontinue the use of the computer and go back to trusting other humans.
Of course, this was a kid’s cartoon and is very simplistic in nature. As such, it’s not to be taken too seriously. I, however, keep coming back to this simple cartoon, as the world becomes more and more dependent on AI. Let’s not let our own versions of G. E. E. C. destroy our lives.