My new friend Phil

A few weeks ago we hadn’t a clue that the other existed. Now. Phil writes to me daily,
but has yet to answer any of my emails.
I suspected Phil might not be “real,” which was confirmed when his “boss” wrote to say Phil is not able to answer email, but that they are working on getting him those privileges.
It all began when I responded online to a job opening for a chaplain at a local hospital. Phil was quick on the draw getting back to me. I hurriedly uploaded a current resume that clearly outlines my fields of experience: journalism, private school administration, and ministry.
He was excited, he wrote, noting that he had many things that were right up my alley: occupational therapy, medical assistant, surgeon, and…you get the point. Today I got more: medical director, neurosurgeon.
Apparently the only thing he picked up from my application and resume was the word “hospital.”
When I reached out to correct this gross misunderstanding, I learned that Phil can’t reach back.
So, whichever employers are being represented by this online recruiter, they are not being served well. Of course, neither am I and I have no recourse—but then neither have I paid any
money.
This is a pretty good example of an AI failure. I imagine Phil was programmed for key words, such as hospital, without nuance. It can probably be fixed, but how to even tell anyone?

AI.
We can fear it.
We can worry about ethical uses.
We can pretend that it has nothing to do with our lives.
We can stomp our feet and threaten it.
We can try to just wait it out.
My strategy is to embrace AI, mostly because it intrigues me. Also, realizing it likely is not going away, I may as well try to understand what I can.
As for me & Phil, the end is in sight. One-way communication has never been a successful game plan for relationships.