Why AI Evolution Looks More Like QAnon Than Blade Runner

Samuel Butler warned us about machine evolution in 1872’s Erewhon. But the real threat today isn’t sentient robots – it’s digital ecosystems wreaking havoc in ways science fiction never imagined

Welcome everyone to a bonus end(ish)-of-year edition of Techtris. This one features an essay I published in my most recent book The Other Pandemic: How QAnon Contaminated The World, and it’s on Dune, Terminator, The Matrix and their roots in an 1872 dystopian travelogue called Erewhon.

But mostly it’s about our lack of imagination when it comes to digital forms of life – why do we only imagine machines acting like humans? Why not like other forms of biological life – why not bacteria?

If you find it interesting, do consider buying the book (for yourself or for a loved one), or hitting subscribe below for occasional emails along similar lines. Merry Christmas, Happy Hannukah, Feliz Navidad, Happy Holidays, and all that –James.

For as long as we’ve had computers, it feels like we’ve been dreaming of how they might destroy us. While there is no shortage of academic or philosophical thought on this front, it’s most apparent in popular culture, especially science-fiction.

Most stereotypically…