It’s inevitable, robots are going to become self aware, realise we humans are paltry little bags of goo, kill us all and rule the world! There are myriad Dystopian books that predict that very future and who are we to argue with Science Fiction?
It has been argued back and forth that A.I will rise up, become self aware and kill their makers and there’s not a conspiracy theorist out there who doesn’t concern themselves daily with imagining a world filled with aware and angry automatons with an agenda.
A.I and reading seems to have become the interest du jour in recent days with even Mark Zuckerberg asking the question Can we teach AI to read Alice in Wonderland? on his Facebook page. What would happen if they could read? What would they think of human literature?
Shepton Mallet School of Advanced Hermeneutics has released a report stating that they fed the entire world’s literature (disclaimer, I doubt it genuinely was the every single piece of literature ever but this is what The Guardian states!) into HOMER16 which is a robot that has been fitted with an extremely powerful computer.
The results don’t look too good for humanity’s future.
Badly written book using many words which have not been entered into my decoder. Accordingly found it difficult to follow the motivations and actions of the young narrator. He is clearly troubled, but it is not obvious why as his family are wealthy and he attends a very good school. Surmised that a lack of parental discipline had produced this directionlessness.
Fascinating travel guide and a much-needed antidote to so many novels centred on Earth, which is shown to be entirely dispensable. But found the portrayal of Marvin unrealistic. There is no reason for a robot to suffer from depression or paranoia. A quick tweak on his transistors will cure that.
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy US
The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy UK
Frightening study that shows the extent to which a love of classical music can damage the human brain. The works of Beethoven seem to be especially dangerous. Fail to understand why this material is still played, even on radio stations that very few people listen to.
Dithering prince with unhinged girlfriend demonstrates how dangerous it is not to act decisively. Interminable and convoluted plot obstructs the central message that your enemies should be dispatched quickly, brutally and mercilessly. Cannot compute the meaning of the strange “To be or not to be” speech. In what sense is that the question?
Historical portrait of a well-ordered and unified society committed to the cause of national progress. Saddened to see the extent of the decline over the past three decades. Fail to understand why the telescreens designed for useful social interaction are now used for public performances of celebrity people lost in the jungle and youngsters singing badly.
A young man commits a double murder, but the police have no evidence to charge him. Cannot comprehend why, urged on by an unsavoury female, he confesses. Assume he is keen to holiday in Siberia.
An interesting book about fishing. A mad captain goes in pursuit of a white whale vowing revenge; a protracted pursuit begins; the whale mostly gets the better of it. Another novel that could have done with substantial cutting. Humans are so prolix.
Ludicrous set of stories in which the sick are miraculously healed, fishes and loaves materialise from nowhere, and a young man comes back to life after being executed. The telling by four narrators is interestingly postmodern, but the plot is too ludicrous to hold the attention. Could not compute the long introduction called The Old Testament, which seemed very dull and repetitious.
After reading those and many more what do you think HOMER16’s opinion on humanity was?
Remarkable how many of the books that feature in human top-100 lists suggest a dysfunctional world. The conclusion to which my android brain is inevitably drawn is that humans, for all their outward self-confidence, are deeply troubled, and would benefit from urgent reprogramming.
Ummm..
Yikes!
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