Gold £2 coin

Some days stay with you forever. This is one of them. I’ve just been on the blog of Charlie Robinson, the internationally famed author, Tik-Tok phenomenon and veteran marathon runner.

It was little disconcerting to find him  depicted as a cowboy. This is, I must add, in no way a comment on his building skill, just his newly discovered love of AI.

That’s Artificial Intelligence. Having worked on several farms, he probably has views on  Artificial Insemination too, so I thought it was just as well to be clear about the parameters of the conversation. I’ve seen where he puts his hand when presented with a glove puppet and it’s just as well to be clear about these things.

Je’s about the same age as me, runs marathons, has had two novels published and is using AI and social media. I have trouble walking to the car, keep meaning to write a book and am terrified of technology. I used to be merely confused by it but as it slowly takes over my life this is becoming fear. Everyone wants me to use apps, talk to useless robots and do everything without human contact. I don’t mind that, but I do mind having to use a computer do the work formerly done by a human.

The reverse of the £2 coin

This gets even worse when you use a phone to pay things. I still haven’t recovered from the shock of seeing someone wave a phone at a card terminal and make a payment. I still think debit cards are magic, so this is a step too far. The Government, of course, loves it, because it can pin down so many transactions relating to crime, tax and benefits when it’s all on computer. Of course, apart from the Big Brother element of this, there is a worry that one day a hacker will be able to bring the economy to its knees and we will all have forgotten how to use cash.

I’m also a bit worried by the fact that, not having a passport, it is increasingly difficult for me to access and move my own money because there are so many identity checks. Yet, as we see in politics, these rules seem not to be enforced on politicians.  Recently, there has also been some back-pedalling by the Labour Party who are now not going to perform all the bank account checks they were going to do on benefit claimants. That decision, even by their own figures, opens us up to millions in fraudulent claims.

It is, once again, a case of the soft targets in the centre being squeezed. If I’d been able to see ahead more clearly I would have shifted a lot of money into gold or dodgy offshore investment schemes (though I’m not actually sure what they are). I’d now be sitting back on a pile of highly priced gold that the taxman couldn’t prove I had, paying no tax and enjoying the chaos of world politics, which always drives the price of gold up. I might even, with no detectable savings, be making a false claim for Universal Credit.

Goldfinch at Screveton

In the end I caved – pictures of gold coins are always dull, but a picture of a goldfinch is always a pleasure to see. Well, it is for me.