this post was submitted on 06 Oct 2026
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When I was a kid and thought about robots I never considered their intelligence would require a massive physical infrastructure just to make the best guess of the next word.
It seems shortsighted of science fiction authors to have not predicted the problems we're currently having with AI. They had decades to think about it. Did any of them predict that people would be using it to cheat on homework, create scams, disrupt social media with spam and terribly off-putting fake images, publish books and songs nobody wrote and nobody wants, all while using obscene amounts of energy? The world doesn't seem more futuristic or in any danger of getting wiped out by some autonomous AI thing that's been given access to nukes, both typical major themes. The world to me just feels more empty and boring. It's just a new tool hucksters can use to defraud people.
Some of the other things the tech oligarchs are pursuing are also cliche themes of science fiction: space exploration, the metaverse, the meta glasses, Musk's Neuralink. So if AI did not turn out as expected, how's the rest of this stuff gonna work out?
Actually, they did predict this. It's been one of the classic ethical questions posed by hard sci-fi since we were feeding punch-cards into slots and soldering breadboards.
Isaac Asimov in particular wrote a lot of short stories tackling the ways that an AI could break the Laws of Robotics. Hell, he invented the Laws of Robotics specifically as a plot device for his setting to discuss the philosophy behind computer ethics.
The problem is, the tech oligarchs failed the reading assignment and didn't actually read the books that were supposed to warn them NOT to do the thing.
Did anyone expect that? Like, there was enough different thinkers, and takes, that somebody probably suggested it.
Usually, people gravitated in the opposite direction, though: To be smart, an algorithm has to be beautiful and profound and sublime.
Isaac Asimov entering the chat like
Which work was that in?