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I would recommend anyone that is fascinated by this to read books from two universes; the Revelation Space universe, and the Culture novels. These feature two d

by foota 10y ago

I would recommend anyone that is fascinated by this to read books from two universes; the Revelation Space universe, and the Culture novels. These feature two different looks at how AI & computers integrate or coexist with humans.

arethuza 10y ago
The Culture novels have both what is probably the best case for human-AI interaction in the Culture itself and what is possibly the worst case - societies using technology to implement virtual hells where uploads are tortured for eternity... Edit: Are there any SF stories that give a more positive view of AI than the Culture novels?
- denzil 10y ago
  Friendship is Optimal is quite positive take on tha AI: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal
- taneq 10y ago
  I don't know if it's possible to have a more positive view of AI than the Culture books - the weakly godlike, (almost-)universally benevolent Minds are a bit too Mary Sue-ish and make Banks work hard to find interesting stories in the setting (which he does, and well, but he's forced to stick to the fringes of the Culture because most of it is too boringly perfect.) I'm not sure that the Hells were particularly AI-heavy - the demons seemed to operate on a quite human level compared to the often-ineffable Minds.
  - arethuza 10y ago
    Yes, one valid criticism is "one of the problems with the Culture novels as novels is that the central characters, the Minds, are too powerful and, to put it bluntly, too good." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Overview https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Overview
- fennecfoxen 10y ago
  I dunno, I'm no Culture series buff but from conversations with a friend who is I'm under the impression that To The Stars serial proposes a better job of having humans integrated into a unified Governance, though I suppose you could interpret the "just leave the AI types completely in charge" as the more AI-positive position. Of course, the setting lets them cheat a little: it's basically HPMoR for magical girls. :b http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ToTheStars http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ToTheStars http://archiveofourown.org/works/777002/chapters/1461984 http://archiveofourown.org/works/777002/chapters/1461984
  - arethuza 10y ago
    Actually, I don't think the Culture is a case of "just leave the AI types completely in charge" - they are presented as having a lot of votes on things from whether you are allowed to build stuff (e.g. a network of cable cars) in a wilderness through to all-out-war. If a side looses a vote on something serious they regard it as natural that the society can split and nobody seems to regard this as unusual or undesirable. One of the interesting things about the Culture novels is if you have god-like AIs (i.e. the Minds) how can a society control them? The answer the Culture gives is that the only real control is peer pressure e.g. the Grey Area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Area Of course, any human in the Culture has to be comfortable with the idea that they are essentially well treated pets. Although pets that are free to leave at any time...
    - taneq 10y ago
      It's also mentioned that pan-humans can augment themselves intellectually to the point where they're at least in the same ball park as Minds. They're just no longer considered 'human' at that point.
- amirouche 10y ago
  Asimov novels are good in this regard.
- foota 10y ago
  What I find interesting in the culture series is how they talk about lesser AI being used by more powerful AI. I view this as being similar to what we have with Siri etc.

by foota 10y ago

arethuza 10y ago

The Culture novels have both what is probably the best case for human-AI interaction in the Culture itself and what is possibly the worst case - societies using technology to implement virtual hells where uploads are tortured for eternity... Edit: Are there any SF stories that give a more positive view of AI than the Culture novels?

denzil 10y ago
Friendship is Optimal is quite positive take on tha AI: http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal http://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal
taneq 10y ago
I don't know if it's possible to have a more positive view of AI than the Culture books - the weakly godlike, (almost-)universally benevolent Minds are a bit too Mary Sue-ish and make Banks work hard to find interesting stories in the setting (which he does, and well, but he's forced to stick to the fringes of the Culture because most of it is too boringly perfect.) I'm not sure that the Hells were particularly AI-heavy - the demons seemed to operate on a quite human level compared to the often-ineffable Minds.
- arethuza 10y ago
  Yes, one valid criticism is "one of the problems with the Culture novels as novels is that the central characters, the Minds, are too powerful and, to put it bluntly, too good." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Overview https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Culture#Overview
fennecfoxen 10y ago
I dunno, I'm no Culture series buff but from conversations with a friend who is I'm under the impression that To The Stars serial proposes a better job of having humans integrated into a unified Governance, though I suppose you could interpret the "just leave the AI types completely in charge" as the more AI-positive position. Of course, the setting lets them cheat a little: it's basically HPMoR for magical girls. :b http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ToTheStars http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/FanFic/ToTheStars http://archiveofourown.org/works/777002/chapters/1461984 http://archiveofourown.org/works/777002/chapters/1461984
- arethuza 10y ago
  Actually, I don't think the Culture is a case of "just leave the AI types completely in charge" - they are presented as having a lot of votes on things from whether you are allowed to build stuff (e.g. a network of cable cars) in a wilderness through to all-out-war. If a side looses a vote on something serious they regard it as natural that the society can split and nobody seems to regard this as unusual or undesirable. One of the interesting things about the Culture novels is if you have god-like AIs (i.e. the Minds) how can a society control them? The answer the Culture gives is that the only real control is peer pressure e.g. the Grey Area: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Area https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GCU_Grey_Area Of course, any human in the Culture has to be comfortable with the idea that they are essentially well treated pets. Although pets that are free to leave at any time...
  - taneq 10y ago
    It's also mentioned that pan-humans can augment themselves intellectually to the point where they're at least in the same ball park as Minds. They're just no longer considered 'human' at that point.
amirouche 10y ago
Asimov novels are good in this regard.
foota 10y ago
What I find interesting in the culture series is how they talk about lesser AI being used by more powerful AI. I view this as being similar to what we have with Siri etc.