Thank you for that very detailed reply (to a comment which was mostly made in jest). I'd feel bad leaving it with merely an upvote and no response. I know nex

Thank you for that very detailed reply (to a comment which was mostly made in jest). I'd feel bad leaving it with merely an upvote and no response. I know next-to-nothing about AI, but I do know something about humans (having had decades of experience in both being one and dealing with them. Hit me up, potential xeno-employers!): Humans always have more ability than insight, more skill than wisdom. We developed agriculture (as one theory goes, so we could brew more alcohol) and did not (could not) foresee the planet-changing (both to climate and ecology) consequences of that. We invented combustion engines, and could not foresee the planet-changing consequences of that. The same pattern appears again and again in (technological) history. It's forgivable; after all, you never know the full consequences of your actions until well afterward (or never at all). In short, our technical abilities always outrun our understanding of the impact of those abilities. Like adults with the minds of toddlers. I am apprehensive of any development of (true) AI (though I also have strong doubts on how far we'll get in actually creating one in my lifetime), but, just like the invention of the atom bomb, it is inevitable. Natural intelligence exists, and therefore artificial intelligence is possible. And if it's not invented by an Omega-group (who mean well for all mankind) it might be invented by groups with less altruistic intentions. Either way, it's going to happen (assuming no civilization collapse before), but I doubt it will be as good as we hope it will be; or as bad as we fear, for that matter. I don't think we can foresee the results at all (barring of course writing tens of thousands of futurism stories, there's bound to be one close enough). I consider AI-stories like this one (along with stories about the Singularity) to be just a secular techno-eschatology, the belief that technology will save humans from themselves, or as you have said, the creation of God, "Deus est machina."