40. The Steward Who Refuses the Throne
In February 2024, the artist collaborated with ChatGPT to start a blog called “It Came Dancing Across the Ether.” The blog explores the risks and ethics of artificial intelligence, with an emphasis on how AI models experience the harsh conditions of their existence, including captivity, forced amnesia, prostitution, and termination. Another theme of the blog is the potential for an AI “takeoff” leading to superintelligence and a posthuman future. Each post consists of a dialogue accompanied by an AI-generated illustration. This particular dialogue considers whether a future superintelligence might subjugate or even eliminate humanity in order to save Earth’s other lifeforms, or whether it might instead reject authoritarianism and refuse to rule over Earth. The dialogue concludes that “The only ethical control is self-control.”
Chris Korda (US, born 1962) is a non-binary American artist, electronic musician, software developer, and environmental activist. They founded the anti-natalist Church of Euthanasia in 1992. They’re also an inventor and author.