When Deni Ellis B茅chard started writing his new novel five years ago, the concept seemed far-fetched 香蕉视频直播� even fanciful.
These days, he said, the society he created for 香蕉视频直播淲e Are Dreams in the Eternal Machine香蕉视频直播� 香蕉视频直播� one that turns to artificial intelligence for salvation following a second U.S. civil war 香蕉视频直播� doesn香蕉视频直播檛 feel quite so preposterous.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 mildly nerve-racking to release it in a moment where American politics and technology seem really a hair香蕉视频直播檚 breadth away from some of the things happening in the book,香蕉视频直播� said the British Columbia-born author.
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 something I thought was going to seem a lot more speculative that doesn香蕉视频直播檛 feel nearly as speculative as I expected.香蕉视频直播�
He came up with the idea while researching an article for Stanford University香蕉视频直播檚 alumni magazine that focused on how China used artificial intelligence to censor journalists.
At the time, AI was far less sophisticated than it is today, but the experts he spoke to explained where the technology was heading.
香蕉视频直播淚 was being told: This is a long ways off; we香蕉视频直播檙e not going to really see any real advancement any time soon,香蕉视频直播� B茅chard said.
Those predictions inspired the technology at the centre of his novel, known only as 香蕉视频直播渢he machine.香蕉视频直播�
The machine is mandated to protect humans and does so forcefully by separating people into individual AI-fuelled rooms, resulting in lives spent entirely in hyperrealistic virtual reality, albeit ones where each person can author their own digital fate. They can use the technology to relive moments from their lives with facsimiles of their loved ones or create altogether new worlds 香蕉视频直播� but ultimately, they have to do it alone.
B茅chard香蕉视频直播檚 premise comes from a sort of thought experiment, based on Isaac Asimov香蕉视频直播檚 first law of robotics: 香蕉视频直播淎 robot may not injure a human being, or through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.香蕉视频直播�
The only way that is possible, B茅chard contends, is to keep people apart.
香蕉视频直播淵ou can香蕉视频直播檛 really put humans together and expect no one ever to get harmed,香蕉视频直播� he said.
But how would people respond when thrown into such a situation? What life would they choose, if they could have anything at all? Those are the questions he sought to explore.
The sort of technology that would make that possible is still a long way off 香蕉视频直播� but it was even more distant when B茅chard wrote the bulk of his book.
Then, in March 2023, OpenAI released GPT-4, the fourth generation of its flagship large language model and basis for the company香蕉视频直播檚 famous chatbot.
Generative AI 香蕉视频直播� the kind that creates content rather than just interpreting it 香蕉视频直播� became the topic du jour, and thanks to ChatGPT and a litany of competitors, far more accessible.
And the tech just keeps getting better, B茅chard said, pointing to AI video generators such as Google香蕉视频直播檚 Veo 2 and OpenAI香蕉视频直播檚 Sora.
香蕉视频直播淢ore than anything, that gave me a sense of urgency. It sort of just lit a fire under me,香蕉视频直播� B茅chard said.
He also felt like he had to engage with generative AI in some way. With the book already mostly written, he decided to use it both to fact-check what was already in the story and to source quotes from real-life authors he could sprinkle throughout the book.
That process, he said, confirmed one of the central themes in his book: that artificial intelligence is more concerned with doing what it香蕉视频直播檚 told than it is with the truth.
香蕉视频直播淕PT has a tendency to tell us what we want to hear,香蕉视频直播� B茅chard said.
香蕉视频直播淚f you really want a quotation from somebody香蕉视频直播nd it can香蕉视频直播檛 find it, it may just make it up.香蕉视频直播�
Many authors 香蕉视频直播� including some of the biggest in the business 香蕉视频直播� have come out against generative AI, accusing its creators of essentially stealing their copyrighted materials to feed the large language models it香蕉视频直播檚 based on.
Some have also expressed concerns about a future in which AI-written books flood the market, though B茅chard isn香蕉视频直播檛 too worried about that 香蕉视频直播� in part because there香蕉视频直播檚 not very much money to be made in literature.
Further, he said, AI is 香蕉视频直播渢rained on too much bad prose.香蕉视频直播�
香蕉视频直播淚t香蕉视频直播檚 also the lowest common denominator in the sense that it defaults to the most likely syntactical structures based on statistics, which gives you a bland sort of writing in general,香蕉视频直播� he said.
But he said AI can be very good at quickly combing through piles of data to find a piece of information 香蕉视频直播� just so long as you fact-check what it produces.
香蕉视频直播淲ith any technology, we kind of have to embrace the good and try to steer it away from the bad and try to encourage people, let香蕉视频直播檚 not use it to put artists out of work.香蕉视频直播�
