I’ve been avoiding AI and spending time wondering if I’m just gonna sit this one out and/or worrying I’ll be 70 and in the dark technologically. I’d like to think that’s what grandkids are for?? Given I have no grandkids yet and the resistance to always provide tech help by the ones responsible for my future grandkids, I doubt the wisdom of this plan. On another note, I’ve recently purchased two arcade games for a game room. I searched for Frogger but couldn’t find one anywhere 😟. Has he become road kill?? I’m concerned.
Whoa! What games did you end up getting? I'm entertaining a fantasy where I do that one day.
Also: try using AI to search and for nothing else, particularly something complex. I think that's where it can really shine - it's much more of a mere sounding board than it's being presented most of the time, I think. Or, at least, that's how I use it every day.
Frogger was among the very first video games I played. Now, I can get almost any new AI model to code up a Frogger clone with a single prompt. There's probably some deeper point to make here.
"Frogger" plays a prominent role in an episode of "Seinfeld", in which George tries to save the console of the game on which he has the highest score from being removed and destroyed.
No brain space to expand on the analogy of the median, BUT … I did just play frogger in real life.
Picture this, at the airport with my hubs and he wants a meal. We weave our way through the crowds at a food establishment to reach the counter. I decide that I want the ultimate sweet-and-salty snack (not available at the food establishment). I turn around and make a mad dash out of the crowded dining area, rollie bag in tow. When I reach the transition line between dining area and airport terminal concourse (my grass median), a deluge of passengers deplaning from the neighboring gate made me “hop” forward, back, side-to-side to make it to the marketplace shop on the other side of the concourse (and the very much needed snack)! And my thought was I was in a frogger game! (Why does autocorrect change frogger to trigger??)
Ha! It almost sounds like you were being bombarded by particles you had to dodge, so it's almost a combo of Frogger + Space Invaders (or maybe Asteroids). I know that mad dash really well too!
Great article, you have a true talent. Great writer and great at BJJ, I should really be envious and hate you but you’re a solid guy. Hope all is well.
At this stage of the game, that frog should be sitting on the fattest lily pad, alongside the tallest pile of flies, talking and gesticulating as he pleases, filling his mind with knowledge as quick as he fills his belly with flies.
By "at this stage of the game", do you mean like someone who has been consistently practicing Frogger (the arcade version) since 1982? I know that person exists, and I want to know about them!
Agree; alas I do not know this Frogger master. I do know me, and the one arcade game I mastered was Galaga. My retro arcade got one, and I went down there and racked up the high score on with my 2nd quarter. Hadn't played in 20 years.
Not because I'm good (I am definitely not), but because that game is really fun, especially for its time! Between that and Ms Pac Man, I had a lot of fun at pizza parlors before 1985.
I love Frogger! It was one of my favorite games back in the day, and aside from playing at the arcade, I had it on Atari!
Love the analogies here!!
I too am avoiding AI. I was working in office jobs around the time personal computers started becoming available. I also worked in a video store when we went from paper to computer to check out videos to people. Computers came easy to me then and I would spend a lot of time helping the older people 😂 Now, I’m probably the older people. I still catch on quick with computer stuff, but, as a writer and a teacher of writing, I just hate that so many students are relying on AI to generate their papers… so, I’m purposefully not learning how to use AI. Of course, it gets pushed on me everywhere I go on the internet, so, I just avoid it as much as I can.
I hear you, Kristin! The frog jumps are a lot right now, and they were easier for me when I was younger.
For me, writing is one of the most important activities in my day, so it's hard to imagine wanting to outsource any of that, but what I really enjoy and appreciate is just how much easier it is to verify facts and learn things on the fly. I think AI is a considerably better form of search, and not really much more, at least in terms of language. You might really enjoy the tutorial aspect - it really just consolidates stuff from the web and makes it way more useful.
I’ve been avoiding AI and spending time wondering if I’m just gonna sit this one out and/or worrying I’ll be 70 and in the dark technologically. I’d like to think that’s what grandkids are for?? Given I have no grandkids yet and the resistance to always provide tech help by the ones responsible for my future grandkids, I doubt the wisdom of this plan. On another note, I’ve recently purchased two arcade games for a game room. I searched for Frogger but couldn’t find one anywhere 😟. Has he become road kill?? I’m concerned.
Whoa! What games did you end up getting? I'm entertaining a fantasy where I do that one day.
Also: try using AI to search and for nothing else, particularly something complex. I think that's where it can really shine - it's much more of a mere sounding board than it's being presented most of the time, I think. Or, at least, that's how I use it every day.
Frogger was among the very first video games I played. Now, I can get almost any new AI model to code up a Frogger clone with a single prompt. There's probably some deeper point to make here.
Did you listen to the Bad Religion song? Not their strongest early song, but still kinda fun!
Just did now that you asked. Frogger as a metaphor. Deep.
I should consider suing those time travelers!
"Frogger" plays a prominent role in an episode of "Seinfeld", in which George tries to save the console of the game on which he has the highest score from being removed and destroyed.
I believe the episode in question is entitled "The Frogger."
Of course it would be…
No brain space to expand on the analogy of the median, BUT … I did just play frogger in real life.
Picture this, at the airport with my hubs and he wants a meal. We weave our way through the crowds at a food establishment to reach the counter. I decide that I want the ultimate sweet-and-salty snack (not available at the food establishment). I turn around and make a mad dash out of the crowded dining area, rollie bag in tow. When I reach the transition line between dining area and airport terminal concourse (my grass median), a deluge of passengers deplaning from the neighboring gate made me “hop” forward, back, side-to-side to make it to the marketplace shop on the other side of the concourse (and the very much needed snack)! And my thought was I was in a frogger game! (Why does autocorrect change frogger to trigger??)
Ha! It almost sounds like you were being bombarded by particles you had to dodge, so it's almost a combo of Frogger + Space Invaders (or maybe Asteroids). I know that mad dash really well too!
Great article, you have a true talent. Great writer and great at BJJ, I should really be envious and hate you but you’re a solid guy. Hope all is well.
Thanks, Steven! You rock and I'm glad we've gotten to know one another through jiu jitsu.
At this stage of the game, that frog should be sitting on the fattest lily pad, alongside the tallest pile of flies, talking and gesticulating as he pleases, filling his mind with knowledge as quick as he fills his belly with flies.
By "at this stage of the game", do you mean like someone who has been consistently practicing Frogger (the arcade version) since 1982? I know that person exists, and I want to know about them!
Agree; alas I do not know this Frogger master. I do know me, and the one arcade game I mastered was Galaga. My retro arcade got one, and I went down there and racked up the high score on with my 2nd quarter. Hadn't played in 20 years.
Whoa. We should play Galaga some time.
Not because I'm good (I am definitely not), but because that game is really fun, especially for its time! Between that and Ms Pac Man, I had a lot of fun at pizza parlors before 1985.
I love Frogger! It was one of my favorite games back in the day, and aside from playing at the arcade, I had it on Atari!
Love the analogies here!!
I too am avoiding AI. I was working in office jobs around the time personal computers started becoming available. I also worked in a video store when we went from paper to computer to check out videos to people. Computers came easy to me then and I would spend a lot of time helping the older people 😂 Now, I’m probably the older people. I still catch on quick with computer stuff, but, as a writer and a teacher of writing, I just hate that so many students are relying on AI to generate their papers… so, I’m purposefully not learning how to use AI. Of course, it gets pushed on me everywhere I go on the internet, so, I just avoid it as much as I can.
I hear you, Kristin! The frog jumps are a lot right now, and they were easier for me when I was younger.
For me, writing is one of the most important activities in my day, so it's hard to imagine wanting to outsource any of that, but what I really enjoy and appreciate is just how much easier it is to verify facts and learn things on the fly. I think AI is a considerably better form of search, and not really much more, at least in terms of language. You might really enjoy the tutorial aspect - it really just consolidates stuff from the web and makes it way more useful.