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Comment by Cyphase

3 days ago

I love Daemon/FreedomTM.[0] Gotta clarify a bit, even though it's just fiction. It wasn't a rogue AI; it was specifically designed by a famous video game developer to implement his general vision of how the world should operate, activated upon news of his death (a cron job was monitoring news websites for keywords).

The book called it a "narrow AI"; it was based on AI(s) from his games, just treating Earth as the game world, and recruiting humans for physical and mental work, with loyalty and honesty enforced by fMRI scans.

For another great fictional portrayal of AI, see Person of Interest[1]; it starts as a crime procedural with an AI-flavored twist, and ended up being considered by many critics the best sci-fi show on broadcast TV.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daemon_(novel)

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Person_of_Interest_(TV_series)

It was a benevolent AI takeover. It just required some robo-motorcycles with scythe blades to deal with obstacles.

Like the AI in "Friendship is Optimal", which aims to (and this was very carefully considered) 'Satisfy humanity's values through friendship and ponies in a consensual manner.'

Makes on wonder whether it will be Google, OpenAi, or Anthropic to build the first Samaritan (though I’m betting on Palantir)

  • Martine: "Artificial Intelligence? That's a real thing?"

    Jorunalist: "Oh, it's here. I think an A.I slipped into the world unannounced, then set out to strangle it's rivals in the crib. And I know I'm onto something, because me sources keep disappearing. My editor got resigned. And now my job's gone. More and more, it just feels like I was the only one investigating the story. I'm sorry. I'm sure I sound like a real conspiracy nut."

    Martine: "No, I understand. You're saying an Artificial Intelligence bought your paper so you'd lose your job and your flight would be cancelled. And you'd end up back at this bar, where the only security camera would go out. And the bartender would have to leave suddenly after getting an emergency text. The world has changed. You should know you're not the only one who figured it out. You're one of three. The other two will die in a traffic accident in Seattle in 14 minutes."

    — Person of Interest S04E01