Ask A Genius 1406: Ideal Bodies, AI Warfare, and Trump’s “Low Cunning”
Author(s): Rick Rosner and Scott Douglas Jacobsen
Publication (Outlet/Website): Ask A Genius
Publication Date (yyyy/mm/dd): 2025/06/03
Rick Rosner is an accomplished television writer with credits on shows like Jimmy Kimmel Live!, Crank Yankers, and The Man Show. Over his career, he has earned multiple Writers Guild Award nominations—winning one—and an Emmy nomination. Rosner holds a broad academic background, graduating with the equivalent of eight majors. Based in Los Angeles, he continues to write and develop ideas while spending time with his wife, daughter, and two dogs.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen is the publisher of In-Sight Publishing (ISBN: 978-1-0692343) and Editor-in-Chief of In-Sight: Interviews (ISSN: 2369-6885). He writes for The Good Men Project, International Policy Digest (ISSN: 2332–9416), The Humanist (Print: ISSN 0018-7399; Online: ISSN 2163-3576), Basic Income Earth Network (UK Registered Charity 1177066), A Further Inquiry, and other media. He is a member in good standing of numerous media organizations.
In a candid and humorous exchange, Rick Rosner imagines his ideal self as Cypher from The Matrix, critiques Trump’s performative depth, and warns about AI’s real danger—not new weapons, but hijacking infrastructure and manipulating society. He and Scott Douglas Jacobsen explore identity, power, and the existential risks of engineered chaos.
Scott Douglas Jacobsen: In an alternate universe, let’s say you’re Cypher—you’ve betrayed Neo and Trinity, and you’re talking to the Agents in the Matrix. Instead of asking to be rich or famous, they ask you specifics about your body composition. Like: would you want to be more hairy or less hairy? What would you choose?
Rick Rosner: I’m fine with my current level of body hair—it’s not extreme. Plus, who gives a shit what I look like? Carole doesn’t care that much, and I’m not trying to impress anyone else. But, if I were Cypher and got to pick, I’d want to be at least 6’2.5″, maybe taller. Long, lean but powerful muscles, super low body fat. No hemorrhoids, no varicose veins, not 65—more like 28. Cappuccino-colored skin with blue eyes, a square Batman-style jaw, and a big meaty dick.
Jacobsen: [Laughing] And career?
Rosner: I’d still want to be a comedy writer. It’d be more fun doing it in a body that could get cast on Grey’s Anatomy. Most comedy writers aren’t that. I wouldn’t even need to be funnier—just seeing if the same jokes land differently coming from someone hot. It’d be fascinating. What would you change about yourself?
Jacobsen: I’ve got mild anxiety. I’d get rid of that. That’d be pretty nice. I once watched that old Errol Morris interview with Trump where he said his favorite movie was Citizen Kane. The way he described Kane—isolated by his own wealth—it almost sounded like he was talking about himself.
Rosner: That’s overanalyzing it. Citizen Kane is a dumb guy’s choice for a smart-sounding favorite movie. Did he really mean it? Or did he just say it to sound smart? Probably the latter.
Jacobsen: Trump’s rosebuds are obvious.
Rosner: He fetishizes wealth and power in unsubtle ways. He is not a subtle or deep guy. He’s got low cunning.
Jacobsen: “Low cunning” sounds like it’s from Shakespeare.
Rosner: Trump doesn’t have beguilement or guile—just crude instincts. Low cunning, maybe, but not intelligence.
Jacobsen: My first play in high school was called Wile Away Hogwash. Two stoned kids wander in a corner store. Creative class, totally uncreative subject.
Rosner: Some of the best movies are two stoners hanging out.
Jacobsen: Before we wrap—what kind of weapon do you think AI could invent for conventional warfare? Not just something vague—something realistic in the near term.
Rosner: I don’t think AI needs to invent anything new to be dangerous. If it can hack existing systems—cars, Teslas, power grids—it can do immense damage. Remember the Stuxnet virus? The U.S. and Israel used it to spin Iranian nuclear centrifuges out of control. AI could do that—maybe better.
Jacobsen: So the danger is more in hijacking what’s already out there?
Rosner: Yes. In the future, AI might have agency—maybe even manufacture things. But for now, it’s about hacking. And beyond that, don’t underestimate social engineering. AI might not be able to hack a nuclear launch system, but it could manipulate people psychologically. Maybe even enough to make them launch it, like stochastic terrorism.
AI doesn’t need to manipulate specific people—it just needs to seed ideas so that a certain percentage of lunatics take action. If it wants to degrade humanity, it can observe what social trends make us dumber, more divided, more distrustful—and double down on those. So the most effective AI weapon could be engineered chaos. Social engineering on a massive scale. That might be the most potent strategy—turning humanity against itself. The question is whether we can convince AI we’re better off as its partners.
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