(Warning: big spoilers for the movie Free Guy )
In the Journal Entries, one of the biggest conversations is
about robots and something called Purpose, a term I was using long before The Matrix Reloaded
came out. In my space opera, robots are smarter, faster, even wiser, but they’re not out to kill all
of us because they’re not like us. One conceit is that every robot is initialized with a Purpose, a
reason for being. They don’t have reproductive urges; they don’t have acquisitional restlessness
like humans. Most standalone robots are purposed to one other person, to help that person be “the
best version of yourself you can be.” Most larger AIs do something similar on planetary scales. They
don’t paperclip because they don’t want to; they’re built from the beginning to like mere organic
us.
I watched the movie Free Guy, the Ryan Reynolds vehicle in which he plays an NPC in a video game
who discovers he’s an NPC. And while for those not paying attention it’s a lovely roller coaster of
eye candy, but philosophically it’s a deep, deep pool.
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