Page 16 of Chaos Theory
He laughs. ‘I forget not everyone does this. My ex was always telling me I overplan.’
‘Your ex? The Irish woman you met at the conference?’ My mind races to download and process this new information. ‘I’m…sorry?’ But I’m vaguely aware that some small part of me has perked up.
‘It’s fine.I’msorry – TMI, am I right? Must be the whiskey talking.’
I look down at Josh’s glass. It appears to be empty already. The Irish aren’t the only ones who like a drink.
‘I’m gonna switch to Guinness,’ he says. ‘Want one?’
‘Sure.’ Fair enough, we do like a drink.
‘So,’ he says after he’s ordered. ‘Let’s talk about Kobi.’
I deflate again. I don’t look at him, but I decide to be honest. ‘I can’t pretend the last two days have been easy.’ Honest but understated.
‘I know. And I appreciate it.Weappreciate it.’
I glance sideways up at him. ‘We? You and Kobi?’
‘I meant me and Ron, and everyone at RoboTron.’
‘Are you sure – is Ron sure – that this is really a good idea? You must know that I really don’t know what I’m doing. In spite of whatever JP has said.’
He speaks softly. ‘Ron thinks this is a good idea. He doesn’t always let me in on his rationale, but he seems to have an understanding with JP, and both of them want to make this work.’
I stare at the Guinness settling beside the beer taps. I like that it can’t be hurried. A phrase surfaces in my mind. ‘Arigata-meiwaku,’ I say.
‘Excuse me?’ says Josh. ‘Is that Irish?’
I half laugh. ‘Japanese. I had a friend in college who was obsessed with all things Japanese. She was always saying this phrase. She was fascinated by it. It means the feeling you get when you have to act grateful because someone did you a favour, even though you didn’t ask them to do you that favour, and in fact the favour has caused you a lot of trouble.’
Josh laughs gently. We both watch as the barman fills up the rest of the pint glasses and places our drinks in front of us.
‘I’ll drink to that,’ says Josh.
I clink my glass against his. I’m remembering a classic television ad for Guinness that featured a man surfing through rolling waves. I steal a glance at Josh, notice his mouth as he licks the cream from his upper lip. It’s a wide mouth, to accommodate all those glossy white-paint teeth. He still looks more like a surf instructor than an engineer.Things don’t always seem how they really are,I tell myself.
Maybe Josh has somehow also seen this ad, because the next thing he says is, ‘Robots like Kobi…AI…it’s a tide that’s coming in, Maeve. At first it comes in little ripples across the sand. Makes little indentations. No big deal. But eventually those ripples become waves, and the waves get stronger. They get so strong that they wash away everything in their path. So my question to you is – do you want to get washed away, or do you want to surf the wave?’
I picture him up on a surfboard, holding a pint, not spilling a drop.
I turn towards him in my chair. ‘Honestly, right now I feel like I’m drowning.’
He turns to face me. ‘Well, then let me teach you to swim.’
I laugh nervously, trying not to picture both of us on the beach, laughing in the surf.No, Maeve, it would not be sunny, I tell myself sternly, remembering the reality of Irish beaches.You’d both be freezing.
‘AI is coming for every industry,’ he says. ‘It’s already coming for manufacturing. For farming. For healthcare. The big stuff. The important stuff. AI is right now fighting cancer, saving the lives of pregnant women, figuring out new materials to combat climate change…’
He runs his fingers through his hair. Josh’s intensity is kind of energising. I almost feel it vibrating from him – the passion, the interest. I sometimes get like this too. True, my interests tend towax and wane, but that’s just because I haven’t found the exact right thing yet. Josh sounds like he’s found the exact right thing.
Still, I try not to get swept away. I’m already a strong swimmer. I can push back a little. I think about Jen. ‘Saving the lives of pregnant women? If anything, Kobi is doing the opposite – increasing everyone’s blood pressure. All he’s done so far is make our lives worse. Sorry to be so blunt.’
He holds up his hands. ‘Fair enough, what you’ve seen so far is not exactly game-changing. But you haven’t seen what I’ve seen. And I’m sorry Kobi went a bit rogue. He’s only improvising because he’s not in his natural environment right now. He’s out of his comfort zone.’
‘He’s not the only one,’ I say.
‘Okay, let me ask you another question. Where do you see yourself in the future?’
