this post was submitted on 18 May 2025
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Everyday we get closer to the book The Diamond Age by Neil Stephenson where the main character has stolen from him a book he created called, “A Young Ladies Illustrated Primer” The thief turns out to be a hacker and mass produces copies of the book for orphans.
The book itself is an AI that assess the users surroundings and intelligence level before creating stories that are relevant to the user that also educates them.
I can see this being a net positive if done correctly. But I don’t think the tech is there yet.
Interestingly the AI stories are voiced by real people, ractors. That would now be one of the first things cut, see James Earl Jones
Lol, Interestingly enough. The hacker who steals the book realizes that each copy he makes can’t have a ractor so he substitutes it with a computer generated voice. I distinctly recall him acknowledging that it’s not as personal as a ractor but is adequate enough for the purpose.
I'd say given the current tech environment that book would "educate" based more on a Brave New World caste and less on ideal knowledge to raise someone up but to keep them in a certain assigned position.
Ain't nobody got time to read. Send an AI generated summary.
one of my top 3 books. This doesn't add to your comment but I find it interesting: An important part of the story is that the Primer was originally intended to train a billionaire's granddaughter to become a powerful CEO. One equity-lord's attempt to hoard knowledge that backfires is what catalyzes the story.
I mean say what you want, but thats legit how new tech is being developed right now. My favorite book is Cryptonomicon. It came out in 1999, But the premise was that the main characters were going to build a currency backed on cryptography. There was even a side story in the book where one of the man characters is looking for a specific investor who is obsessed with trading cards. The main character sells the investor on the idea by saying how the technology could easily be adapted for distributing digital trading cards.
The dude basically predicted Bitcoins and the rise of NFTs in 1999.
I thought it was an instruction manual on how to eat captain crunch.
Dude, top ten expositions of all time. Up there with the importance of pizza delivery.
sounds interesting. Noted
Sounds like an interesting book
Thank you for sharing!