May '23
I just wanted to mention an interesting story that I have been thinking about lately. (There are a couple of YouTube videos up of people reading it out loud, by the way). First published n 1941, it's about a scientist who creates artificial life, and accelerates its development until he has his own little artifical creatures who evolve to become intelligent, then eventually they become smarter than humans. As AI develops, I think about that story sometimes. In some ways it just helps me to imagine the dangers and problems that could arise from creating things that are more intelligent than we are, and which may or may not be essentially sympathetic to us. Had to share.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmic_God
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Microcosmic_God
Baby is Three is another classic Sturgeon story. I always liked that one a lot. Once in a while, some random thing in life reminds me of it, and I find myself thinking about it for a few days.
Wikipedia says Theodore Sturgeon was the inspiration for Vonnegut's Kilgore Trout! Well, the name, anyway. I don't think I ever knew that. If I did, I have completely forgotten knowing it.
I am scared about AI too. I worry about what could happen if it somehow seizes control of nanotechnology. It could do seriously horrifying things, things that would seem to be straight out of a horror movie, and most of us woudn't have a prayer of even fighting back, let alone surviving.