When Mark Zuckerberg posted that he plans to spend 2016 building an AI butler similar to Ironman's Jarvis, a grandmother named Darlene Hackemer Loretto commented about how she encourages her granddaughters to date nerds in their school because they may turn out to be a genius like the Facebook creator. Zuckerberg, however, proposed a better idea saying that the grandmother should encourage her granddaughters not to date the nerd, but to be the nerd.
On Zuckerberg's New Year's resolution post, Loretto wrote, "I keep telling my granddaughters to date the nerd in school; he may turn out to be a Mark Zuckerberg!"
Zuckerberg answered, "Even better would be to encourage them to be the nerd in their school so they can be the next successful inventor!" His response was liked by more than 20,000 Facebook users.
Loretto's statement elicited negative reactions especially from feminist groups who believe that women should not depend on men to become successful in life. The grandmother defended herself by taking to her own Facebook wall to explain that what she said was merely a joke.
"I've done everything in my life myself, my children's dad died at a very young age and I did it all. Starting 2 businesses. I said it once to them in jest and never did I think anyone would even see this, let alone get the attention it has gotten," Loretto wrote.
Meanwhile, Zuckerberg is determined to challenge himself this 2016. According to his New Year's resolution post, he plans to build things himself hence the plans to invent his very own AI butler. In the lengthy post, he vows to "start exploring what technology is already out there" and "to teach it to understand" his voice so it can manage his home. He hopes that his project will enable him to "build better services" and allow him to lead his organizations "more effectively."