Imagine a blank page before you, a pen in your hand. You describe on the page a fantastic world of towering mountains, rushing waterfalls, and exotic plants and animals. Floating islands defy the laws of physics.
Then you turn the page and see a glowing image of what you described. You place your hand on it and feel a tingle spread throughout your body. You are pulled in and everything goes black. Then, seconds later, you find yourself standing in the very land you imagined, the wind on your face, everything real.
This was the amazing ability of the D’ni, an ancient race that could write worlds, called Ages. This powerful Art allowed them to accomplish marvels we can only dream of. But it also tempted power-hungry individuals and led to the downfall of many. This is the backstory of the MYST series, which I described at length in Part I of this blog.
As a kid, the idea of writing Ages captured my imagination. I even used to write my own, describing worlds I wished to explore in notebooks, adding a linking panel for authenticity. Later, I used 3D modeling software to visualize them.
My fascination with The Art has made me a life-long MYST fan. This month, I revisited the series after completing the newly released Riven remake, and have found a comparison particularly relevant to modern times: The Art is a powerful analogy for AI.
AI contains possibilities just as fantastic and terrifying. Photorealistic images appear with the stroke of a pen (or keyboard), voices and faces are mimicked almost perfectly, and advice is given instantaneously.
Since the dangers of AI are growing in number, I will use Gehn (the antagonist of Riven), as a cautionary example of what happens when powerful technologies are abused, and Atrus, his son, as an example of the way forward. They each show in different ways the importance of societal standards in regulating such technology.
Abuse of The Art
“It was an astonishing ability to possess. Little wonder that his father, freed from the restraints of D’ni society and lacking the true humility of his D’ni peers, had thought himself some kind of god.”
These are the words of Atrus, and they highlight the biggest danger of such technologies. Gehn is best known for his abuse of The Art and self-proclaimed “godhood.” He used his awesome ability to become a tyrant.
At the height of D’ni’s power, The Art was treated with the greatest respect. Abuses of it were punished, either by law or in the court of public opinion. Considering oneself a god was the ultimate heresy.
But when D’ni fell, so did these restraints. Gehn, as the last writer trained in The Art, had nothing to stop him from pursuing his wildest ambitions. Atrus ponders further:
“Was it really Gehn’s fault that he had become what he’d become? The destruction of his hopes at such an impressionable age had clearly traumatized the boy, yet could everything be accounted for by that?
What of the cruelty in his father, that twisted aspect of Gehn? Was that a product of events, or was it something natural in the child that, through circumstance, had been encouraged rather than controlled?”
Thus, the biggest danger is not technology itself, but those who control it. Since Gehn lacked such constraints, he was able to indulge his darkest impulses. We too risk this peril when such impulses are not checked by reason and morals.
But how has this played out with AI?
Abuse of AI
Only last year DALL-E Mini took the internet by storm, despite producing blurry and distorted images. Now, AI images are almost indistinguishable from real ones. It is growing exponentially with no end in sight.
Unlike The Art, AI is able to talk back. It can learn and grow based on feedback. We are not merely learning from it, but it is also learning from us.
Based on this growth and its ability to learn, it is hard to imagine where it will be in 10 years. David Bowie’s prediction about the internet is apropos:
“I don’t think we’ve even seen the tip of the iceberg. I think the potential of what it is going to do to society, both good and bad, is unimaginable. I think we’re on the cusp of something exhilarating and terrifying. It’s not just a tool, it’s an alien lifeform” (source).
So how is AI being abused, and what dangers lurk around the corner? Here are some common concerns:
With these in mind, and other dangers not mentioned, it is baffling that AI developers released it so readily, like a rabid dog without a leash. The famous Jurassic Park line is relevant here:
“Your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should” - Dr. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum)
This carelessness is a natural consequence of loosened restraints: with no transcendent authority, a god complex is inevitable.
In the Image of Gods
Enthroning humanity as the highest good, AI developers have a not-so-subtle god complex. Though its malevolence is not as obvious as Gehn’s, it is no less insidious.
As Gehn sacrificed villagers for his experiments, AI developers condemn future generations to nameless calamities. With a god complex, “small” issues like these matter little compared to the grand vision.
While some have advocated for slower development of AI, their voices are usually ignored. Most, like OpenAI head Sam Altman, have pushed for rapid, public development to stress test and perfect it (source.)
But why do they rush in where angels fear to tread? It is because their highest goal is to perfect the human experience. And they hope to attain this by achieving Artificial General Intelligence (AGI).
This is a state in which AI becomes more intelligent than humans, effectively ascending to “godhood.” Their only fear is of it becoming “evil,” like Terminator. In anticipation of this apotheosis, OpenAI employees reportedly chanted:
“Feel the AGI! Feel the AGI!”
Here the mask slips: they are worshiping an idol and will not rest until it ascends. One chief scientist even commissioned a wooden effigy representing an “unaligned” AI, and set it on fire (source.)
But what is this AGI “god” at its essence? It is simply a mirror.
AI developers miss this fact about humanity: we cannot create anything better than ourselves. Whatever we create will inevitably contain all our stupidity and malevolence, just as Gehn’s Ages were like himself: disjointed and haphazard. As Christ says:
A good tree produces good fruit, and a bad tree produces bad fruit. A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit.” -Matthew 7:17-20 (NLV)
How Do We Proceed?
“The City of D’ni should not be restored. It should stand forever in ruins, as both a symbol of our past mistakes and a memorial to all who lost their lives when D’ni fell … if we, the men and women who survived the downfall of D’ni, are to thrive, then we must break the pattern of hatred which has destroyed so many lives. We must begin our civilization anew.” - Atrus in MYST III journal
Atrus’ approach to rebuilding D’ni was the antithesis of Gehn’s. He realized the city itself should not be rebuilt. Rather, a new Age must be written, called Releeshahn. This is what we must do for our society.
We cannot put the AI genie back in the bottle. Nor the internet, or smartphones, or any other technology in modern times. Rejecting it completely and living like the Amish is alluring for some, but this is akin to the fruitless efforts to rebuild D’ni.
We can only write a new “Age” by grounding ourselves in clear moral standards and the wisdom of the past. Doing so, we can forge ahead with renewed vigor. Like the thrilling power of the Art, we can write our own destiny, embracing scientific discoveries but with proper limits and perspective.
More than anything, we must reject the god complex that is so tempting in our times.
Rather than worshiping AI (and ourselves), we should recognize it as a powerful tool to be handled with respect and caution. And proceeding with humility, we can author a future even better than imagined.