I understand, from what a couple of folks in my family have said, that Gamecocks are playing football today instead of yesterday. Don’t ask me why. Also, don’t ask me why they’re playing in Atlanta when the opponent is Virginia Tech. I don’t wish to know.

But yesterday, my wife told me that my mother — unlike me, a great sports fan — was planning to watch “the game.” She always watches the Gamecock’s games, so I Googled to see where and when that day’s game was being played.

The first thing I got was of course Google’s AI response, a service of which it seems inordinately proud. Here’s what it said:

Screenshot

Uh… so how does that make sense? Read that mind-boggling bit in the middle: “…the current date is the past.”

How do you figure? In what universe is the date in which we are presently living (observe the date and time stamp at the top of the image) “in the past?”

Apparently, the universe where the algorithm lives.

A human with even moderate sense would have answered simply, “There is no game today.” If that person were a tiny bit smarter, he or she would possibly have added, “Yes, normally they would be playing today, but this time, they’re playing on a Sunday. Here’s why…” At which point it would tell me things I still don’t know yet.

Before we all bow down and start worshiping this new overlord, I appreciate that it takes the trouble to allow us to smirk at it now and then…