Maybe what youre feeling is automation anxietyPublished inThe Medium BlogSent as aNewsletter4 min readJust now-- I swear to God a human wrote thisIssue #250: foraging, pickling, and dead husbands who haunt your dreamsEarly robots were charming. In 1956, artist Irving Block designed Robby the Robot for the movie Forbidden Planet. Robby had a dry wit, was designed to help humans and follow Isaac Asimovs three Laws of Robotics: A robot 1) may not injure a human being, 2) must obey human orders, and 3) must protect its own existence.Then robots started to learn. In 2011, two Jeopardy contestants with impressive winning streaks competed against Watson, an IBM computer. After Watson wiped the floor with them, Ken Jennings, a contestant who won 74 games by just using his squishy, carbon-based brain, wrote on his screen I, for one, welcome our new computer overlords in homage to a Simpsons episode in which a TV anchor welcomes new insect overlords. (Not for nothing, Robby the Robot looks suspiciously like a bug.)How did we get to a place where humans bow to robots on national television? In How to Survive Automation, Sam Brinson explains the trajectory. Early AI, also called symbolic AI, could do algebra, but it couldnt get a feel for tasks without a human programming each step. Then came deep learning. AI first learned to play Go by looking at past games; then it learned how to play when humans fed it the rules and let it play against itself; then it learned several other games like Chess and Atari games without being given rules at all. We just let it loose [and it] learned for [itself] what does what, Brinson writes. And now it kicks our ass, and the asses of its AI predecessors.And now it kicks our ass. Im not a fan of that sentence, because that makes it sound like robots are breaking the rules. Drones (flying robots) have gone to war over the last several decades, breaking Asimovs first rule. But its the second rule theyve really tossed out the window. We no longer flinch at the phrase the computer wont let me and instead just find workarounds.To wit: My insurance company canceled my umbrella policy because my father wasnt on my auto insurance. Apparently, the insurance robot decided that my dad was driving my car because he gets mail at my house. The thing is, my dad is dead. Luckily, a human customer service rep convinced the insurance robot that a dead person could still get mail. This was harder than it should have been, and it bugged me for days. I started to hear myself ask people whether we will ever escape the robots? Clearly, if I was asking this question, the robots were following rule number three just fine.You have automation anxiety, one of my smart friends said. Brinsons cure for this, at least for people afraid of losing their jobs, is to develop skills that complement machines instead of competing with them. He cites economist Tyler Cowen, who writes, Ever more people are starting to fall on one side of the divide [complement or compete] or the other. Thats why average is over.But, because I have a sense of humor, I went to Google to find even more advice. In an impressive move to protect its own existence (Rule #3), Google coughed up a BBC article that told me I should just lean into the idea of automation. But all is not lost: In an ultimate self-own, Google also led me to How to Survive a Robot Apocalypse which had some helpful tips. (Paint your door knob the same color as your door, go upstairs, stand on a table.)I laughed, which Im beginning to think is the only way out. A good place to start, if you want to laugh too: Kalle Georgievs story about robots taking over an office.Spoiler alert: They miss the humans. Im also readingMelanie Weird, who describes herself as that weird plant lady living in the wilderness of Appalachia explains that foraging is the antidote to our frantic lives. Foraging, she writes, teaches us to be still, to observe, and to reconnect with the moment were in. Among other things, Weird forages pretty purple mushrooms that she transforms into mushroom salt.Its easy to conflate purpose with your 95, but purpose is less about what you do than why you do it, as recruiter Dali Chabaane explains. If you notice yourself defining yourself by your title or place of work, ask: What brings me joy, regardless of recognition?As someone who recently lost a loved one, I was moved by Brandy Nicole Hammocks story about her deceased husband showing up in her dreams. I loved the plot of it all; Im sure there was a deeper meaning to each dream, but that wasnt what held my interest. I just wanted to see when her husband would show up next. Your daily dose of practical wisdomTrust me on this: Its very fun to pickle things, because it only requires a very simple equation. A vegetable + vinegar + salt or sugar or both + aromatics (or not!). From the archives, our cup runneth over with Tenderlys column In a Pickle by Laura Vincent who serves up recipes for pickled eggplant, pickled scallions and pickled apples and pears.