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Comment by camillomiller | Hacker News Reader

Why isn’t anyone stopping for a minute to think what happens in that darn movie? Why is it even ok to want your AI to sound like the AI from her? Why are the people leading AI and tech today so shallow when it comes to cultural depictions of their role? Unless they would actually like to be the villain.

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This observation is so widespread it now has a handy shorthand in the form of a meme, the "Torment Nexus":

Sci-Fi Author: In my book I invented the Torment Nexus as a cautionary tale

Tech Company: At long last, we have created the Torment Nexus from classic sci-fi novel Don't Create The Torment Nexus

https://knowyourmeme.com/memes/torment-nexus

Extending the thought, I would argue that this indicates the urgent need for more utopian speculative fiction, since it appears that as a society we tend to "steer where we're looking" even if it's straight into a pole. Cautionary tales clearly do not work - we need aspirational tales!

Unfortunately that’s hard to write in a way that’s interesting, or at least that’s my interpretation. Maybe it would read too much like political and economic theory. And then in the cases where it is done it either leads to things like ‘get away from capitalism’ which many ppl wouldn’t like or just not discussing it much like Star Trek where supposedly there is no money but it’s not really explained how. (And I assume if it were more explicitly socialist start trek would have become as big)

Iain Banks managed to walk the “utopian but doesn’t become a dry political treatise” line pretty well.

Ironically, his works are favorites of several leaders in the torment-nexus-creation space.

My understanding of Star Trek is that it's a post-scarcity utopia. The narrative interest comes from the strife of non-utopian societies.

I just started into "The Island" which reads like the counterpoint to "Brave New World" also written by Huxley. Saying we need it is not enough, because it doesn't get cited even though it exists.

gestures broadly at Star Trek

I've seen this take quite a lot around Twitter recently, which is confusing to me. Do you read Her as a "AI assistants are bad" story? I thought it was a much more subtle exploration of what our world would be like if such things existed, rather than outright condemning it, but it seems like lots of people saw only horror start to finish.

"AI assistants are bad" isn't the take. The thing making people feel icky/uncomfortable about Her - and about the 4o demos - is not the idea of Samantha but the idea of Theodore. It's about nerds' idealized AI versions of womanhood. Tirelessly flirty, giggly servants who they can interrupt and talk over as they please, that come without the inconvenient features of personhood.

Exactly!

Don't forget Frank Herbert is rolling in his grave, too. Dune's first two books could be called 'Paul is bad' and 'I guess I wasn't clear the first time'.

Because they’re not as creative as they think they are.

This is the thing that is so wild to me. Outside of tech, everyone I encounter in day-to-day life intuitively understands that tech dudes inventing AI voices to flirt with them is not awesome or cool.

At this point, I have to assume that being out-of-touch is deliberate branding from OpenAI. Maybe to appeal to equally out-of-touch investors.

It’s the tech (investor) bro appeal

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