As Mark ponders his anti-A.I. position based on those projects he saw, there are a few questionable issues Mark could hit back on in his presentation: The possible cost to people in terms of employment, the proper citation of original data, and financial compensation when AI absorbs published work of people and spits it out in unattributed format. After all, AI doesn’t do original research on its own, of course. It works with data mined from the Internet.

Is there no end to the opponents Mark keeps running into in this story!? In today’s installment, another one of Mark’s “B Team” heavies shows up: Sid Stump is on Mark’s discussion panel. He was also owner/operator of the fake “STEM mountain resort” used to sucker “Big Money” people to attend and give him funds for his special AI project to spread misinformation around the world. Why? I’m not sure. Power, perhaps. Check out the “Bear Necessities” story (2023).

So now Sid wants to dump some AI technology. Big deal! That’s hardly the doomsday scenario that Rivera sarcastically suggests in panel 4. But exactly what is Sid’s sale going to change, as Rivera implies? Perhaps Mark’s opinion of A.I.? He already knows Sid Stump is a con man. So will Mark assume that along with Cricket Bro, this conference is just a scam, a front for some nefarious plot to make the cost of E-bikes ever more expensive? Guess we might find out in due time.

I kind of like the tug-o-war going on in Mark’s head, as he reluctantly begins to move past his basic AI: Bad! mentality.  These are, in fact, actual AI projects. Putting aside the previous odd “interrogation room” interview sequence and the touristy walkabout, this is the first actual meat in an otherwise, vegan story. In these panels, we see Mark’s growing concern and curiosity, revealed through his shifting eyebrows. The influence of AI on and in the environment has been touched on previously in Mark Trail, as we’ve seen; but here, it becomes more of a personal struggle with Mark’s own ethics.

As much as I like to see something serious pop up in Mark Trail, Rivera’s track record of remaining on point is inconsistent. Once again, I fear that we’ll soon see a sharp disruption to Mark’s self-analysis and a big change in the tone of the story. It would be interesting to see Mark give his presentation and admit that he has been forced to rethink some of his biases. Will that happen?