It seems like tech overlords have inserted themselves into many facets of our daily lives — and you can add crosswalks to the list.
Hackers, who presumably wanted to make a statement about the unwanted presence and influence of tech billionaires, added voices mimicking Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk to crosswalk buttons in Palo Alto, Menlo Park, and Redwood City, Calif.
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In downtown Palo Alto, a message mimicking Elon Musk greeted pedestrians with this message:
“Hi, this is Elon Musk. Welcome to Palo Alto, the home of Tesla engineering,” said the Musk mimicker. “You know, they say money can’t buy happiness, and yeah, okay. I guess that’s true. God knows I’ve tried. But it can buy a Cybertruck, and that’s pretty sick, right? F***, I’m so alone.”
NBC Bay Area reports that, when pressed, a crosswalk button in Menlo Park on the corner of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue delivered the following message:
“Hi, this is Mark Zuckerberg, but the real ones call me the Zuck. You know, it’s normal to feel uncomfortable or even violated as we forcibly insert AI into every facet of your conscious experience. And I just want to assure you, you don’t need to worry because there is absolutely nothing you can do to stop it. Anyway, see ya.”
Meghan Horrigan-Taylor, chief communications officer for the City of Palo Alto, told reporters that they believe the hack happened on Friday night.
“City staff have disabled the audible feature until further repairs can be made,” she said. “Other traffic signals in the City were checked and the impact is isolated. Signal operations are otherwise unaffected, and motorists are reminded to always exercise caution around pedestrians.”
NBC Bay Area says that Tesla did not respond to its request for comment, though, we gotta say, that seems like an open invitation for hackers to comment for you.
