I read the story A Logic Named Joe, as well as the article discussing it. In the story, Leinster describes “Logics” which have totally revolutionised the way the people in the story’s world live. The Logics in this story seem to be a search engine with a hint of artificial intelligence thrown in. Though the story was written 70 years ago, the ways the Logics have changed their society is a surprisingly accurate prediction of how the introduction of computers has affected our own. Among the predictions the story made:
In addition, the story details the ways that computers are used to enable people’s bad habits. There are a great number of references to infidelity and lust throughout the story, and once people are able to search for anything, searches for criminal activities skyrocket. People are searching for how to rob banks, how to kill their wives, how to counterfeit money, etc. It’s interesting how Leinster makes sure to point out how Joe isn’t evil or bad; Joe just gives people what they want. In that way, it’s a bit of a subversion of typical sci-fi stories involving AI. The story even lampshades this with:
He ain’t like one of these ambitious robots you read about that make up their minds the human race is inefficient and has got to be wiped out an’ replaced with thinkin’ machines.
Another remarkably accurate prediction is how people in the story can’t imagine going back to how life was before the Logics. Everything in their civilisation revolves around the use of Logics, from their entertainment and information, to their banking and health. In the same way, most people today can’t imagine living life before computers and the internet. While the five aforementioned predictions are interesting, it’s this last prediction that most accurately reflects the way society would become just 70 years after Leinster published this story.
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