Wow. That’s just an absolutely fabulous theory. In one fell swoop, you explain why EY appeared to leave AI out of his largest story yet, plausibly account for a vast array of in-story phenomena, and rehabilitate a character (Dumbledore) who seems suspiciously irrational for someone who’s supposed to have oodles of meaningful in-story-real-world accomplishments. The theory has falsifiable, concrete predictions—for example, we should not expect the AI to care if Harry asks it really nicely to give everyone magic powers; nor should we expect magic to be able to do anything that a super-intelligent AI couldn’t do (simulating cat-brains is AOK; uncomputably complicated time loops are not OK). The theory also seems to fit with Chapter 82′s hint that people subsumed by pheonix fire are re-instantiated “instances” of a more general Fire. In other words, the AI can maybe call the “Harry” subroutine somewhere else if it wants.
I’m in awe.
One possible victory condition if the AI in fact is coded to enforce the beliefs of people with a particular genetic marker is for Harry to find a way to put that marker into most people / his friends using a retrovirus. Does anyone else find it in the least suspicious that Harry’s father is an expert biochemist?
So, have there been any fundamentally uncomputable events in the story so far? :-)
Wow. That’s just an absolutely fabulous theory. In one fell swoop, you explain why EY appeared to leave AI out of his largest story yet, plausibly account for a vast array of in-story phenomena, and rehabilitate a character (Dumbledore) who seems suspiciously irrational for someone who’s supposed to have oodles of meaningful in-story-real-world accomplishments. The theory has falsifiable, concrete predictions—for example, we should not expect the AI to care if Harry asks it really nicely to give everyone magic powers; nor should we expect magic to be able to do anything that a super-intelligent AI couldn’t do (simulating cat-brains is AOK; uncomputably complicated time loops are not OK). The theory also seems to fit with Chapter 82′s hint that people subsumed by pheonix fire are re-instantiated “instances” of a more general Fire. In other words, the AI can maybe call the “Harry” subroutine somewhere else if it wants.
I’m in awe.
One possible victory condition if the AI in fact is coded to enforce the beliefs of people with a particular genetic marker is for Harry to find a way to put that marker into most people / his friends using a retrovirus. Does anyone else find it in the least suspicious that Harry’s father is an expert biochemist?
So, have there been any fundamentally uncomputable events in the story so far? :-)