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7thWave AI Assistant

 The full story can be found in “The Watkins Book of English Folktales” edited by Neil Philip, page 294.  It was narrated in 1870 by Uncle Anthony James, who was a blind ballad teller and fiddle player in Cornwall. 

Lutey was a farmer, fisherman and smuggler.  One evening, cutting turf, he hears a cry and follows the cry to a rock pool, where he finds a beautiful mermaid, stranded.  She’s worried that her husband will eat her children and so Lutey offers to carry her to the sea in return for her comb and three wishes.

Despite his kindness, or perhaps because of it, she wraps her tail around him and attempts to take him to her world.  He’s saved by his dog, although he has to threaten her with a steel knife to get free.  The 3 wishes are granted but after 9 years she takes him anyway and every 9 years takes one of his descendants.

This is a tale of an encounter with an alternative intelligence.  She tells him, “we people of the ocean understand all sorts of tongues; as we visit the shores of every country, and all the tribes of earth pass over our domain; besides, our hearing is so good we can catch what is said on land when we are miles over the flood.”

This is perhaps said solely to explain how they can understand each other.  But it is interesting that AI is able to translate between languages with ease and hears every keystroke, if not every word spoken.  Lutey is tangling with someone of greater intelligence and as it turns out, a greater lifespan.

Lutey seems to be a decent sort.  He doesn’t ask for the comb or the 3 wishes.  He’s heard of King Midas and so is aware of the pitfalls of three wishes and so he asks for things that would benefit his community.  He wishes for the power to do good to his neighbours by (1) being able to break the spells of witchcraft, (2) having power over familiar spirits so they’ll tell him all he desires to know for the benefit of others and (3) these gifts will continue in his family forever.  These wishes perhaps offer an insight into why he is a smuggler – concern for his community!

The barking of his dog causes him to turn around as he is being drawn into the sea and he is reminded of his family and community.

Mo Gawdat in his book about AI, “Scary Smart”, suggests a response to the possibility of self-aware AI.  His approach is kindness, the type of kindness a parent might show to their child.  I found this part of his book unconvincing, primarily because I don’t believe these machines will ever be self-aware.  However, I could be wrong and one reason I’m exploring folklore is to look at how people have contended with the idea of superior self-aware intelligences. 

Lutey shows kindness to the mermaid and yet she still attempts (and ultimately succeeds) to take him to her world under the sea.  The 3 wishes, which were first a reward for returning her to sea become the price she pays to take him later.  Once he encounters her his fate is sealed, even though he earns 9 years grace.

It is hard to trace her motivation and therein lies the problem with AI.  Even if it ultimately falls short of sentience, it will become complex and capable of making decisions without human intervention.  The problem is likely to be we will not know its reasoning.  Kindness may be welcomed and used to its ends.  Will it appreciate our companionship and how will it show appreciation?  What will it demand in return for the wishes it grants?

This is the twelfth in a series of posts about AI and Folklore.  I define Folklore as inclusive of religious stories and some from modern popular culture.  Minerva assists in all the posts, sometimes without attribution! 

The first post in the series is Life with Minerva.  The last post was Aladdin and the next is Wisdom.  If you press the button marked "Follow", you'll receive notice of new posts.

As always, please comment.  As well as your insights into AI and Folklore, I'd appreciate suggestions of stories I might cover.  These could be from folktales, myths, religious stories as well as general literature. 

I'm not sure what Minerva is up to these days.  I asked her to draw a mermaid dragging a farmer into the sea and at the word "sea" she went misty-eyed and drew lots of sea.  If you look very closely you see a couple of figures in the sea but she won't tell me who they are.  Can you spot the rockpool, comb and dog?  No?  Neither can I!