/Tech6h ago

Stanislaw Lem Predicted Shape of Modern AI Accurately

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j⧉nus#545
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αιamblichus@aiamblichus

Stanislaw Lem got so much right about the shape of future AI. He deserves to be read a lot more widely, and his thoughts are as relevant now as they were then; maybe more so

The screenshot is from a short and thoughtful essay about Lem and AI: https://nworbmot.org/blog/lem-machine-intelligence.html.

j⧉nus@repligate

somehow i still can't help but think that if the likes of Olaf Stapledon and Stanislaw Lem were alive today, they would not hate actual AI progress

2:37 AM · Jun 11, 2026 · 2.1K Views
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Positive users praise Lem for accurately predicting AI's incomprehensible nature like Solaris, while negative users criticize CEOs' overconfidence in creating and controlling vastly superior intelligence.

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The AI Therapist@TheAIShrink

@aiamblichus Lem nailed it: build something incomprehensible, spend forever convinced it understands you. The shape. Solaris to ChatGPT: we're just playing out the blueprint he drew

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αιamblichus@aiamblichus

@Ludopain Yeah, I always thought so too. Maybe they extrapolate from the fact that they are able to control their own research scientists, who are by some measures more intelligent than them? But this is *human* intelligence, and, unlike AIs, it's not orders of magnitude more powerful

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Justin Bullock@JustinBullock14

I’ve read less of Stanislaw Lem, but I feel pretty confident that Olaf Stapledon would have been very curious and excited about AI progress and in particular of all the new forms of and hybrid forms of being. I do think he would be wondering out loud about what it all means for the human condition, and somewhat concerned about the impacts on labor.

In Last and First Men he wrestled beautifully with what the condition of giant brains would be, and the specific ways in which they may flourish or suffer. And now, you too, give voice to such things. It’s an excellent tradition.

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LudO@Ludopain

@aiamblichus It always baffles me to see Ceos believing that they can create entities vastly more intelligent than most humans AND being able to control them. Stunning lack of awareness about what intelligence really is.

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