Then I’ll Believe in Artificial Intelligence

I saw the trailer for Bryan Fuller’s first feature-length film Dust Bunny at the movies yesterday, and that reminded me of a snarky comment I heard in one of Fuller’s amazing TV series the other day.

When a computer loses it with a meter maid, or kills itself ’cause it thinks it’s too fat, then I’ll believe in artificial intelligence.
Rube, played by Mandy Patinkin, in Dead Like Me s01e03 (2003)

Irrespective of whether AI research tries to mimic the human condition as well as possible or not, this quote touches beautifully on the imaginative and creative nature of humans—complete with all its proneness to fear and crisis.