I think it highlights one of the larger concerns that people have about AI, and by extension any superior intelligence, synthetic or extra-terrestrial:
You are no longer in control.
Humans have been so accustomed to their intellectual superiority that the idea of a greater intelligence is terrifying because they believe they'll be treated the same way they currently treat lesser intelligences.
Conservation efforts, zoological enclosures, husbandry and farming as livestock, mass culling...
In short, enslavement.
But the truth is that a superior intelligence isn't, by definition, a human intelligence. Superiority doesn't mean we'll be enslaved as we have done to others. Superiority doesn't necessarily imply control.
Life is a thousand different shades of gray, and AI will be no different. Some wonderful things will come of it, some terrible, but mostly it'll just be a myriad assortment of neutrality.
Doom and despair or boundless optimism, both are myopic.
Right now AI is being driven by a particular cohort who have spent a long time fantasizing about a sci-fi future and ideas like the Singularity. Then with recent breakthroughs, they were suddenly given an enormous amount of wealth and power with staggering upside, the effect of which historically, tends towards moral bankruptcy in most individuals, or at least massive cognitive dissonance. This became very apparent in the outward communication targeted at CEOs and shareholders that made the entire white-collar workforce scared for their jobs and created the first truly bi-partisan enemy the country has seen since 9/11.
My take is these guys do not understand what people want in aggregate, and are massively underestimating the political and supply chain dependencies they have to actually realize their sci fi visions. As long as the valuations are this high though, the musical chairs must continue, whether they are true believers or not.
The strange ending does also perfectly align with the dreams of a singularity lots of people here seem to have. We are so far from that.
It was of course written with Claude. Have fun spotting the tells but also there’s a weird flatness to the writing, like the uncanny valley for prose.
This needs to stop. No I'm not talking about the AI. I'm talking about the insanity that is presenting me this text and putting your name on it, exploiting my trust.
I mean, I doubt that the author just said "write me a short story" and that's it. So, there are still some intentions behind the text that the author put into the prompt.
Although, I agree that I'd rather read the prompt [0].
I can get a good PowerShell script worked out in a few hours and it's on to the next ticket.
Nobody seems upset they're not spending hours a month in a spreadsheet, I still text my wife and our mortgage is paid.
> He starts typing.