Are machines getting to be too intelligent?
OK, so a weird thing happened to me this past week at my local library. Usually I reserve my videos through our multi library system and pick them up when they come in but I had run out of things to watch so I actually stopped in to see what they had available. I was searching through the shelves becoming more and more aware that the selection, although quite large for a small town library, actually really sucked. I eventually picked up three movies including " The Island" with Ewan McGregor and Scarlett Johansson even though I had seen it before. (Yes I know its a ripoff of "Parts: The Clonus Horror" but they didn't have a good MST3K selection) Anyway, I had it in my hand and as was giving the selections a final once over I spotted the Jack Reacher sequel so I grabbed it and put "the Island" back on the shelf. Since the whole Covid thing our library has installed a new system where once you card is scanned you simply place each item, one at a time, on a pad and it automatically checks it out to you. So I checked out my three movies and went home. A few days go by and after watching them I logged into my library account to check the status of a few I had on reserve. As I was looking over the items I had checked out I noticed that the Jack Reacher movie was not on the list but guess which one was? That's right, "The Island" I can understand mistakes can be made and had it been any other movie I wouldn't have thought twice about it but to actually check me out a movie I had in my hand but put back on the shelf in exchange for another that was not checked out to me is just weird. Are we going to have to start wearing our tinfoil hats when we go to the library now if the checkout systems are going to be reading our minds.
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