Chapter 0 - The Responsibility Of Fuelling The Next Fire
On being the bearers of Prometheus's gift. A series of posts about artificial intelligence.
The story of Prometheus is an old Greek myth, about a god who gifted mankind fire. He was punished severely for it, being chained to a valley as a vulture ate away at his body for all of eternity.
This story haunted me. Why did the gods punish Prometheus? Was it hubris? Was fire only something to be sent from afar, from the Sun? Why punish someone who was helping their creations?
I think it's because the gods saw in humanity a malice that Prometheus in his altruism, failed to see.
Fire is a symbol. It's the symbol of destruction. It's the symbol of determination. It's the symbol of warmth. It's the symbol of rage.
Fire is both delicate and powerful.
It's a paradoxical force of nature.
We nourish ourselves with fire. We destroy ourselves with fire.
Why spend so much time on that metaphor?
Fire seems to move on its own. It is almost hypnotic in how random and chaotic it is.
Fire consumes all, and leaves nothing but ash and rubble in its wake.
Artificial intelligence is the new fire. To say otherwise would be an understatement.
Even a thermodynamics professor can burn their house down if they aren’t careful. An understanding of the force at work does not necessarily mean control over that force.