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0 pointsp_l5y ago0 comments

Funnily enough, it's a bit hinted to in one of Culture novels.

Culture Minds have a quirk of their build that made them what they are - it's not the norm, though there are other Mind-like AIs that joined later. Building super intelligent unfettered AI has a known end condition where said AI at worst might steamroll local area then pass onto higher plane of existence or however you decide to call the process of Sublimation.

Because a super intelligent AI quickly can reach that point, and with resources available to many Involveds, finds cheaper and more interesting methods to reach there than disassembling biological life.

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TeMPOraL5y ago· 5 in thread

Interesting. I need to finally read the Culture books.

> Because a super intelligent AI quickly can reach that point, and with resources available to many Involveds, finds cheaper and more interesting methods to reach there than disassembling biological life.

That presupposes Sublimation is a thing, which may not be possible (or easy) in our reality :).

sbierwagen5y ago

>I need to finally read the Culture books.

Beware. There is significant variation in quality between Culture novels, and there is substantial disagreement between fans on which novels are good and which are bad.

I read Consider Phlebas first, and liked it. (Kind of a gritty Hitchhikers Guide) Player of Games was okay. I found the ending of Use of Weapons to be obnoxious in the extreme. And after I read Hydrogen Sonata I resolved to never read another Banks novel.

Side note: basically every novel takes place on the edges of the Culture. (A story requires conflict, and there can't be conflict in utopia) If you want to read about the Culture, then you're better off reading its fandom wiki.

atombender5y ago

You might want to try out Against a Dark Background, and The Algebraist. They're part of his non-Culture novels.

Against a Dark Background is The Culture without advanced AIs or intergalactic space travel. It's essentially a heist/chase novel about a character looking for a certain weapon of mass destruction. The central metaphor of the novel is the main character's isolation, mirrored by a planetary system that is too far away from any nearby galaxies to ever develop the technology reach the stars. It's a very, very bleak novel, but it also has that energy that powers Banks' best noves.

The Algebraist is mostly just fun and lightweight. The premise is great: Humankind has been able to scatter across the galaxy thanks to a network of wormhole gates allowing instant travel, but since each wormhole gate takes a hundred years or so to be transported into a new location, this puts each location at huge risk of being isolated for a very, very long time if their gate is destroyed. Which, of course, exactly is what happens.

jpm_sd5y ago

I could have written this post. Same sequence of novels read, same feelings. I keep getting tempted back into the Banksiverse when his name pops up on HN, but then I remember how disgusted I was at the end of the Hydrogen Sonata.

p_lOP5y ago

Yes, but it sets the specific situation for Culture, and why things worked the way they did - simply put, AIs without some quirk tend to evolve away from such paltry matters like needing atoms.

TeMPOraL5y ago

Still, for our real world, it's the transition phase between emergence and forgoing interest in ordinary matter that worries me.

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