Every Christmas I seem to gravitate toward sci-fi books, and this year's installment was not something I'd ever outright recommend to anyone as it's pretty shocking in parts. A tinkerer creates an AGI who decides to adhere to the letter, rather than the spirit, of Asimov's three laws of robotics. This goes superficially well for humanity, but causes some unintended downstream consequences. If you can get past the overt body horror, the story itself is great, well ahead of its time, and of particular interest at the moment given the growing wave of AI-related existential dread. Read it if that's your cup of tea, but don't put me down at the referrer.
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"But part of it is also that same weirdness seen from the other side. Suppose that infinitely masturbating vegetables, Death Jockeys, and discorporate entities really aren't people any more? Then Prime Intellect has allowed them to 'die.' They were once human, and now they aren't. And the Change is directly responsible for all that."
Caroline spoke forcefully and deliberately. "Prime Intellect, I no longer consider myself human and have not considered myself human since the time of the Change. To be a human being you have to have something to fight, to resist, to work for. But now we have everything given to us, and all there is left to do is mark time."
I'm James—an engineer based in New Zealand—and I have a crippling addiction to new ideas. If you're an enabler, send me a book recommendation through one of the channels below.
