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One of my favorite science fiction authors is (regretfully late) Iain M. Banks. In his Culture series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series https://en.w
by danielodievich 4y ago
One of my favorite science fiction authors is (regretfully late) Iain M. Banks. In his Culture series (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series) artificial intelligence in form of drones and Minds in ships are essential citizens in this imagined society. In fact, Minds by virtue of being so incredibly intelligent and fast pretty much run this Culture, with humans just along for the ride, and largely spending their time in leisure and idleness.
The stories (great stories!) explore the worlds as they collide with the Culture, and in some books (probably most in The Hydrogen Sonata and to a degree in Excession) the exploration of what it means to make art as a human vs as machine intelligence. In Iain stories, advanced Minds are far superior to humans in everything and they can and do create works of art and yet strive carefully not to completely obliterate humanity's desire to make the same. There isn't a competition between human generated vs Mind generated art or science, they collaborate, because if they had to compete, Minds are just overwhelmingly better/faster at everything.
The current GPT situation is not AGI, and the Minds are just a cool thing to read about, but if you want to have a fun yet deep-though-provoking read, check out these books.
- swayvil 4y agoWhat we have is optimizers. Wishing machines. The monkey wishes for infinite bananas and shazam, the universe is bananas. (I am of the opinion that GAI is just a fantasy) See this fine piece of scifi for more on that : Friendship Is Optimal https://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal https://www.fimfiction.net/story/62074/friendship-is-optimal
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 4y agoNow to take your tangent fully off the rails, I’ve been looking for new stuff to read and keep coming across that series. How’s the tone, on a scale from grimdark to lighthearted? It sounds fascinating, but potentially a little bit too Black Mirror for fun. Is it?
- danielodievich 4y agoIt is closer to light than dark. It's not your grim dark forest. There is some humor, including of the Other Intelligence kind. There is, however, a LOT of fairly dark stuff, various killings, gigadeaths, lots of epic fights. Check it out by starting at Consider Phlebas, its quite representative!
- 6gvONxR4sf7o 4y agoSounds worth checking out, thank you!
- flir 4y agoThe Minds have their own art, where humans can't play, which is, to them, infinitely superior in every way - Infinite Fun Space. I think it's implied quite strongly in Excession that the only reason they bother with base reality at all is to "keep the power and lights on" for Infinite Fun.