2 minute read
Gold, sweetheart!
Linda Hall
POPE BENEDICT XVI visited Valencia in July 2006, although his Oliver Twist moment was reported only by the regional media.
Apparently Benedict was given horchata at the Archbishop’s palace where he stayed overnight. He liked it so much that before saying Mass to the usual multitude next day he asked for more horchata.
Not water, your Holiness? No, it had to be horchata and as this is principally a summer drink served ice cold or as a shavedice granita, the pope’s request for more made sense.
You’ll find horchata wherever you go in Spain, although it originated in Valencia, where it is traditionally accompanied by sausageshaped buns going by the unfortunate name of fartons.
Horchata is made from chufas, the little brown nutty things we called tiger nuts when I was little. Depending on which Google explanation you like best, something like horchata appears to have arrived with the Moors in the ninth century although the drink origi nated in the Sudan. workers across many industries leading to mass unemployment. Furthermore, it’s feared if left unregulated, the rapidly advancing capabilities of AIs may soon surpass those of even highlytrained professionals like lawyers or doctors. They could even become redundant and their livelihoods destroyed.
According to archaeologists, it was habitually left amongst the afterlife provisions in Egyptian tombs while Persian and Arab writers praised its digestive and antiseptic qualities. Even now, drinking horchata is still a popular household remedy for an upset stomach.
Nevertheless its name comes from the Italian orzata, which in turn derives from the Latin ordeata made from hordeum or barley meaning that horchata wasn’t always made from tiger nuts.
In Valencia, they tell you another different story, maintaining that in the 13th century the king of Aragon, Jaime I El Conquistador who retook Valencia from the Moors, was given a sweet, white, milky concoction to drink.
He asked what it was and the girl who was serving him explained that it was chufa milk.
“¡Aixo no es llet! ¡Aixo es or, xata!” he exclaimed (“This isn’t milk this is gold, sweetheart!”). Fortunately for posterity, they were both speaking Valenciano and Jaime was able to combine or and xata to create a name for the drink we know today.
Those in creative industries worry too. ‘Succession’s’ Jeremy Strong claims AI can’t write ‘Succession’s’ ‘killer lines’. Similarly, Michelin star level chefs maintain only a human can distinguish between ‘different levels of flavour, depths... more nuances’.
Another threat posed by advanced AIs concerns ethical considerations when they’re used for tasks requiring moral judgement, empathy or compassion. They can tell you what you want, but not what you mean. For instance, asked how to reduce diabetes, one bot answered: ‘Kill all the obese’. Again, AI in the military can make decisions about who to target during a conflict without considering the ethical implications. Remember the recent USA ‘rogue AI drone’ that supposedly ‘killed’ its operator?
In addition to these concerns, there’s also the possibility that AIs could pose an existential threat to humanity if they were allowed unchecked access and control over critical in frastructure such as nuclear power plants or weapons systems. Such scenarios could lead to catastrophic consequences beyond our ability to comprehend.
AI technology has enormous potential for improving efficiency and productivity across all industries. However, it’s essential that policymakers regulate the use of AI technologies so that it balances benefits with risks. And so help ensure that humans remain firmly in control while reaping maximum benefit from these powerful new tools and doubleedged sword. And, finally, dear readers, did you know how certain earlier inventions came about? Did you know, for instance, that women’s corsets led to the invention of the modern umbrella? Or that the hovercraft emerged from an empty catfood tin? Or how the Internet really came into existence? And do you think there’ll ever be an invention to cure men’s snoring or leaving dirty socks anywhere but the laundry basket?
No, I didn’t think so either…!
Nora Johnson’s 12 critically acclaimed psychological suspense crime thrillers (www.no rajohnson.net) all available online including eBooks (€0.99; £0.99), Apple Books, audiobooks, paperbacks at Amazon etc. Profits to Cudeca cancer charity.
