The Butlerian Jihad used to be, for me, one of the most fantastical elements of the Dune series. Sure, melange enabling interstellar travel and giant worms, but a war fought to prevent anything like computers?
With the rise of generative AI models, I think I see it now. It isn’t that humans fight against the machines, it’s that humans fight against humans to prevent the use of the machines.
I now believe Dune to be among the most realistic science-fiction sagas ever written. It’s about a company strictly controlling a valuable resource that enables transportation, and being willing to do anything at all to preserve their monopoly.
The oil must flow.
@gabelgetho The books are set in the far future but have no computers at all. The lack is described as the result of the Butlerian Jihad, in which people destroyed all “thinking machines” and no new computing machines are allowed anywhere for any reason. Instead, people known as mentats are trained from birth to be human computers.
The link is only that I now understand why people might fight to eliminate computers.
You should read Dune, it’s great!
@pwinn the book sound interesting, thanks!
@pwinn since I'm not into Dune saga. what is the relationship between the rise of generative AI models and the human conflicts you describe?