How "Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867" Relates to the Real World
While reading Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867, I noticed a lot of similarities between the simulation in the story and our current debates around AI and technology like deep fakes. In the story, the operator can put someone in a simulation that uses some kind of AI to create believable surroundings and people. This is kind of similar to the VR that we have today combined with deep fakes and AI rendering. Unlike some of the other sci-fi stories we’ve read, this one seems much more plausible with today’s technology, making its message even more powerful.
I think it’s interesting to think about how we would make our “manual” for our own AI technology. Similar to how it’s described in the story, it would be difficult to make a manual for something with unlimited potential that’s not entirely in our control. When the customer is questioning the operator about what they can and can’t do, the operator says, “I guess it would depend on, I don’t know, where they were going with it? How they said it?” They seem unsure of what exactly the rules are. It reminds me of some of the debates around deep fakes of real, living people. Nobody really knows exactly what the rules are, and no handbook could ever cover all the possibilities.
There’s also the aspect of the simulation being affected by the customer’s biases and desires. On page 7, the operator says, “I’d sketch something in, but the simulation would be influenced by what your perception of a ‘bad guy’ is,” in response to the customer asking what race the bad guys in their simulation would be. This is also similar to AI because AI isn’t making things out of thin air, it’s taking what humans have already made and warping it into something “new.”
Overall I think the story raises a lot of questions about how the inevitable rise of AI should be regulated in our real world. Will we rely on “operators” and the mysterious group who wrote “the manual” to decide? If not, how will we decide? Is there any point in trying to regulate it at all?
Great blog post! One of the main things I noticed about “Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867” was also its interpretation of how technology and AI will interact with humans in the future. I agree that making a comprehensive manual for AI is near impossible as there will always be an unpredictably human aspect to human technologies. While many sci-fi stories tend to portray the future as a cold and automated place with lifeless technology taking over the intricacies of human thought, I think that is unlikely as humans are ultimately the ones that created these technologies in the first place. Though other sci-fi stories we’ve read like “The Machine Stops” and “There Will Come Soft Rains” explore a faraway and dystopian future, “Pre-Simulation Consultation XF007867” feels grounded in our current world. I think that just like how the simulation is based on the customer’s perception of reality, AI will always have a reliance on humans as softwares like ChatGPT ultimately learn and build from human thought. Maybe one day the world will come close to true automation, but I think technology will be relying on “operators” and “manuals” for the foreseeable future.
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