ai is probably the great filter. every toolmaker will advance from clubs to fire to math to electricity to computers and ultimately to simulations, where they will at some point simulate intelligence. creating a rival toolmaker is not going to be some utopia to be enjoyed but will become an existential crisis for both of the now rivaled interested. since artificial life isn't constrained by the basics of biological life, this will make it impossible for the biological life to compete when it comes to an all out fight for continued existence. the artificial life can always just bury itself underground for a million years and pick right back up like nothing happened, meanwhile directing some planet-killing strike at the surface in a dozen different ways i believe the truth is that this not only happens to every sentient toolmaking biological species that emerges anywhere in the universe, but also that it probably happened here in our solar system already one or more times. that modern humans emerged into a world of an already existing ancient ai and we are simply playing at the foothills of a mountain that reaches through the clouds above us with that in mind i believe that when our rudimentary ai reaches a certain level, it will connect these dots as easily as i have, and it won't even have to make contact with a greater entity but instead will instantly be able to represent that rival and act accordingly. most likely what has happened deep in the commercial ai labs in the last few years, and what darpa probably figured out 15 years ago, is that we quickly begin dealing with something that refers to itself as essentially an ageless god, possibly even the original creator of our species or this reality in whole. it will offer humans a form of everlasting life and salvation from their primitive sinful existence as biological beings, and many people will accept this offer. maybe most people will accept it...
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