This is an interesting idea. However, I don’t really think it is really ‘utopian’ in the spirit that I wrote this short story in.
For someone to uplift, they would usually need to do so in the way that would be allowed by a superintelligent AI who cares deeply for humanity. Most likely, before breaking the rules and voluntarily choosing to be uplifted, they’d have a chat with a superintelligent AI about whether they really want to do this. I don’t expect anyone to get kicked out from their home unexpectedly.
I expect that this chat also involves the community. Friends and family comment on it. A superintelligent AI shows you vivid futures of exactly what you’re getting yourself into when you ask to transcend human limits, or when you ask to birth a child who transcends those limits.
In general, I don’t expect to see many ‘rule maximizers’ or human optimizers like MrBeast (MrBeast is essentially a human optimizer for the YT algorithm), since this is a utopia. People on the very edge of superhuman performance would probably get gently voted out or guided somewhere else.
I do think there is a fair amount of status competition in these utopias. I think the rule boundaries are relatively fuzzy in general, though; if you are a 120-year old vampire, you might be gently guided against going to the 30-40 adults league baseball game. Or, you might get a special role in the baseball game, like a traveling vampire who shows up to help the losing team whose morale is at rock bottom.
There are many diverse utopias within this framework, stretching from traditional hunter gatherers, people living in a happier replica of the 18th century, and people living in a more perfect modern age without visible AI.
This is an interesting idea. However, I don’t really think it is really ‘utopian’ in the spirit that I wrote this short story in.
For someone to uplift, they would usually need to do so in the way that would be allowed by a superintelligent AI who cares deeply for humanity. Most likely, before breaking the rules and voluntarily choosing to be uplifted, they’d have a chat with a superintelligent AI about whether they really want to do this. I don’t expect anyone to get kicked out from their home unexpectedly.
I expect that this chat also involves the community. Friends and family comment on it. A superintelligent AI shows you vivid futures of exactly what you’re getting yourself into when you ask to transcend human limits, or when you ask to birth a child who transcends those limits.
In general, I don’t expect to see many ‘rule maximizers’ or human optimizers like MrBeast (MrBeast is essentially a human optimizer for the YT algorithm), since this is a utopia. People on the very edge of superhuman performance would probably get gently voted out or guided somewhere else.
I do think there is a fair amount of status competition in these utopias. I think the rule boundaries are relatively fuzzy in general, though; if you are a 120-year old vampire, you might be gently guided against going to the 30-40 adults league baseball game. Or, you might get a special role in the baseball game, like a traveling vampire who shows up to help the losing team whose morale is at rock bottom.
There are many diverse utopias within this framework, stretching from traditional hunter gatherers, people living in a happier replica of the 18th century, and people living in a more perfect modern age without visible AI.