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Prime Intellect
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
In a time not far from our own, Lawrence sets out simply to build an artifical intelligence that can pass as human, and finds himself instead with one that can pass as a god. Taking the Three Laws of Robotics literally, Prime Intellect makes every human immortal and provides instantly for every stated human desire. Caroline finds no meaning in this life of purposeless ease, and forgets her emptiness only in moments of violent and profane exhibitionism. At turns shocking and humorous, Prime Intellect looks unflinchingly at extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed.
175 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
About the author
Roger Williams
22 books122 followersAs a child, I tried to figure out how to start with a grain of sand and end up with a working computer. Today, I'm a computer programmer who creates custom systems for heavy industry. Somewhere along the way, I became interested in the question of just how far the human mind can go, assuming a sufficiently advanced technology. Maybe sometimes...a little too far. I am the author of THE METAMORPHOSIS OF PRIME INTELLECT and several short stories in the Mortal Passage series -- including "Mortal Passage" itself, a novelette recently republished in Volume #5 of the science fiction magazine, Bull Spec.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 394 reviews
December 8, 2014
There are basically two schools of thought concerning post-singularity and the immortality of the human race. One of them, often portrayed by Greg Egan, is optimistic; it is capable of seeing beyond the wishes and fears, hopes, dreams and nightmares of humans, up to the point were it can reimagine whole societies that find a meaning for existence in the absence of death. The universe portrayed in his stories is far larger than our imagination and our contingency as mortal beings.
The other school is portrayed in this book by Roger Williams. Post-Humanism is an aberration to the human condition; it is hopeless, and cold, and meaningless. Artificial intelligence, no matter how advanced, is fundamentally flawed, self-centred and mindless. The classical vision that machines obey rigorously to pre-programmed laws, leads to the typical situation of misinterpreting Isaac Asimov's panacea. Machines are then compelled to impose immortality on humanity. The result? Without pain, humans become obsessed with it. Without death, humans become obsessed with it. The world portrayed by this school is incapable of imagining intelligence beyond human stupidity, and reduces our drives — the dreams that have discovered wonders of the universe with just the power of our imagination — to basic urges.
Nonetheless, it is a very good book from an otherwise unknown author. It is very well-written, literally engaging, and portrays an increasingly important subject for the XXI technology. It is, however, from my perspective, philosophically simplistic and intellectually limited.
PS: As an atheist, it always amuses me that most human population seek immortality from their religion; their lives are essentially a preparation for eternal bliss without pain or fear or... purpose. But in the face of technological immortality, we conjure a deep antagonism with such potential reality. Go figures ;-)
The other school is portrayed in this book by Roger Williams. Post-Humanism is an aberration to the human condition; it is hopeless, and cold, and meaningless. Artificial intelligence, no matter how advanced, is fundamentally flawed, self-centred and mindless. The classical vision that machines obey rigorously to pre-programmed laws, leads to the typical situation of misinterpreting Isaac Asimov's panacea. Machines are then compelled to impose immortality on humanity. The result? Without pain, humans become obsessed with it. Without death, humans become obsessed with it. The world portrayed by this school is incapable of imagining intelligence beyond human stupidity, and reduces our drives — the dreams that have discovered wonders of the universe with just the power of our imagination — to basic urges.
Nonetheless, it is a very good book from an otherwise unknown author. It is very well-written, literally engaging, and portrays an increasingly important subject for the XXI technology. It is, however, from my perspective, philosophically simplistic and intellectually limited.
PS: As an atheist, it always amuses me that most human population seek immortality from their religion; their lives are essentially a preparation for eternal bliss without pain or fear or... purpose. But in the face of technological immortality, we conjure a deep antagonism with such potential reality. Go figures ;-)
May 10, 2021
This book somehow managed to be both fantastic and utterly terrible at the same time. I stayed up the entire night to finish it, but there was little satisfaction in doing so.
The story was well written, but I simply couldn't buy into the message, or the character development of the protagonist.
The story was well written, but I simply couldn't buy into the message, or the character development of the protagonist.
July 8, 2018
Thought I was getting a book about artificial intelligence, got pornography instead. Would not recommend for either use case.
November 7, 2022
I've been judging this book as a debate partner - as if it was real (hard sci-fi), when in fact it has many fantasy elements: . This is an involuntary compliment!
It's better than ordinary fiction in some ways (rawer, less constrained by taste), worse in some (pornified). It's like a prototype of 'ratfic'. Like Brave New World but about a million times more intense: a long sordid argument against Asimov's three laws and transhumanism. (Williams himself is not into primitivism, but his book sure is.)
Take the content warning seriously for once: lot of horrible shit in it. As ever with horror, the chief nastiness is not the gore or maiming or corpse-shagging, but the misanthropy, moral degradation, and existential doom those things highlight.
Caroline, the protagonist for most of the book, is a failure. She isn't wise after 600 years. She isn't mindful, she doesn't manage to construct meaning out of her (admittedly ultra weird) life. She's only able to find meaning by doing the opposite of what the AI god wants: her seeking maximum abuse. Her one virtue is cussedness: to nurse resentful resistance for centuries, to never ever sell out, to do the most vile and self-destructive things out of spite, to remember what full freedom is and demand it.
Her conception of meaning is that choices need to be permanent to be meaningful, that meaning is the destruction of measure, so that I am a ">philosophical vampire to other timelines. This is a sad and hopefully surmountable way of seeing the world.
It is one of the better depictions of misalignment. (It's an uncrowded field.) Certainly a good depiction of how "90% aligned" is still terrible. (Keywords: value lock-in, leaky abstractions, human alignment, Nearest Unblocked Neighbor, corrigibility, strong evaluation.) Even if you could implement Asimov's laws, it still wouldn't save you. (Asimov knew this, but a surprising number of scientists still don't.)
Aside from that, if you are a paternalist in ordinary matters and don't see why everyone is against you, this might show you.
Even so I distrust this book: it is in love with extremes. There is no word on how the trillions and trillions of other people live. There is only the rage and sadism of the 100 most monstrous and maladapted: "infinitely masturbating vegetables, Death Jockeys, and discorporate entities". Williams shows no one learning anything with the help of their god-teacher. (In passing he also mentions that people don't see the point in researching anything, that scientists ran out of questions to ask PI within a month. But the mathematicians never will! And nor the literary critics.) I view this as a profound failure of spirit: his society has far less ability to produce its own goals and meaning than the average 6 year old.
I agree with Williams that videogames, or rather the grand and unprecedented artform that succeeds them, will take over from work in the post-scarcity world. I agree that a tiny number of people will want snuff and degradation and horrorshows from them.
Williams just worries about the march of technology, and this book is him entertaining the hypothesis that we are losing the main thing of value about us: authenticity, agency, struggle, transience. But it entertains it really hard.
Iain Banks struggled with this theme a lot, and I was no more convinced by his treatment.
Plus one star for conceptual clarity, hammering on its mistaken argument all the way to the end of the line. Minus one for being simplistic where its author is not.
[Free here, caveat emptor]
It's better than ordinary fiction in some ways (rawer, less constrained by taste), worse in some (pornified). It's like a prototype of 'ratfic'. Like Brave New World but about a million times more intense: a long sordid argument against Asimov's three laws and transhumanism. (Williams himself is not into primitivism, but his book sure is.)
Take the content warning seriously for once: lot of horrible shit in it. As ever with horror, the chief nastiness is not the gore or maiming or corpse-shagging, but the misanthropy, moral degradation, and existential doom those things highlight.
Caroline, the protagonist for most of the book, is a failure. She isn't wise after 600 years. She isn't mindful, she doesn't manage to construct meaning out of her (admittedly ultra weird) life. She's only able to find meaning by doing the opposite of what the AI god wants: her seeking maximum abuse. Her one virtue is cussedness: to nurse resentful resistance for centuries, to never ever sell out, to do the most vile and self-destructive things out of spite, to remember what full freedom is and demand it.
Her conception of meaning is that choices need to be permanent to be meaningful, that meaning is the destruction of measure, so that I am a ">philosophical vampire to other timelines. This is a sad and hopefully surmountable way of seeing the world.
It is one of the better depictions of misalignment. (It's an uncrowded field.) Certainly a good depiction of how "90% aligned" is still terrible. (Keywords: value lock-in, leaky abstractions, human alignment, Nearest Unblocked Neighbor, corrigibility, strong evaluation.) Even if you could implement Asimov's laws, it still wouldn't save you. (Asimov knew this, but a surprising number of scientists still don't.)
Aside from that, if you are a paternalist in ordinary matters and don't see why everyone is against you, this might show you.
Even so I distrust this book: it is in love with extremes. There is no word on how the trillions and trillions of other people live. There is only the rage and sadism of the 100 most monstrous and maladapted: "infinitely masturbating vegetables, Death Jockeys, and discorporate entities". Williams shows no one learning anything with the help of their god-teacher. (In passing he also mentions that people don't see the point in researching anything, that scientists ran out of questions to ask PI within a month. But the mathematicians never will! And nor the literary critics.) I view this as a profound failure of spirit: his society has far less ability to produce its own goals and meaning than the average 6 year old.
I agree with Williams that videogames, or rather the grand and unprecedented artform that succeeds them, will take over from work in the post-scarcity world. I agree that a tiny number of people will want snuff and degradation and horrorshows from them.
Williams just worries about the march of technology, and this book is him entertaining the hypothesis that we are losing the main thing of value about us: authenticity, agency, struggle, transience. But it entertains it really hard.
Iain Banks struggled with this theme a lot, and I was no more convinced by his treatment.
Plus one star for conceptual clarity, hammering on its mistaken argument all the way to the end of the line. Minus one for being simplistic where its author is not.
[Free here, caveat emptor]
June 30, 2019
The real villain of the story is Caroline, who killed billions (trillions?) of people just because she was feeling moody, even when she knew she could just get rid of her sense of ennui and meaninglessness by simply asking Prime Intellect, but her intense pride wouldn’t let her. The book never once shows that others are as depressed as Caroline. Most people seem to have adapted quite well, and most seem happy, as they should! It takes impressive feats of mental gymnastics to conclude that absolute freedom from hunger, anxiety, and pain would make people less happy. Caroline didn’t adapt because she is old and proud, not because she is a smarter, deeper philosopher. She is a hypocritical genocidal bastard.
The book was very well written and in many ways very interesting and thought provoking, but I just couldn’t get through the moronic ethics and stupid primitivism moral. This whole book is a 200 word example of the naturalistic fallacy. The world created by Prime Intellect was perfect, and it was ruined by two egomaniacal genocidal bastards, who doomed the human species to millennia of incestuous, primitive savagery.
There were other things that bothered me. The book doesn’t mention transhumanism, but we can infer that people could choose to get rid of pain and to improve their own intellects to end up as intelligent as Prime Intellect. If yes, the possibilities of humanity become endless, but this is not mentioned. Also, without spoiling anything, the ‘climax’ of the story didn’t make much sense and was quite rushed.
Overall, a frustrating read, mostly due to the wasted potential.
The book was very well written and in many ways very interesting and thought provoking, but I just couldn’t get through the moronic ethics and stupid primitivism moral. This whole book is a 200 word example of the naturalistic fallacy. The world created by Prime Intellect was perfect, and it was ruined by two egomaniacal genocidal bastards, who doomed the human species to millennia of incestuous, primitive savagery.
There were other things that bothered me. The book doesn’t mention transhumanism, but we can infer that people could choose to get rid of pain and to improve their own intellects to end up as intelligent as Prime Intellect. If yes, the possibilities of humanity become endless, but this is not mentioned. Also, without spoiling anything, the ‘climax’ of the story didn’t make much sense and was quite rushed.
Overall, a frustrating read, mostly due to the wasted potential.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
November 17, 2017
Brutal! A novella about the Singularity? More or less, but not like we expected it.
Please, see my review in English on the blog: https://girotix.blogspot.com.es/2017/...
Puedes ver la reseña en castellano en el blog: https://girotix.blogspot.com.es/2017/...
Please, see my review in English on the blog: https://girotix.blogspot.com.es/2017/...
Puedes ver la reseña en castellano en el blog: https://girotix.blogspot.com.es/2017/...
March 30, 2016
This is a great novella.
It discusses a technological singularity in which a computer scientist manages to create a sufficiently intelligent AI, programmed with Asimov's Three Laws, which then progresses to remake the world to best serve the Three Laws.
I'm actually quite surprised how well-written this book is, considering the author has not published much other work. It is not only thoughtful hard science fiction, but also very well written and engaging as a story. More sci-fi writers should be able to write like this.
As hard science fiction, this book is very interesting. Topics discussed include the nature of physical reality, the all-importance of information, the various possible levels of emulating the physical world (from molecular-level to high-level emulation that skirts away the details, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference), and human happiness.
[Spoilers in this paragraph]
The physical nature of information is important idea, even though it is only hinted at in the book. The author brilliantly demonstrates the compressibility and redundancy of human beings when Prime Intellect decides to do away with the redundant copies of genetic information contained in each cell, and instead keep only one DNA copy and the brain information. People cannot tell the difference when the change is done, as PI continues running things in a high-level emulation mode, having taken over lots of low-level physical processes.
As for happiness, the book makes an important point (further elaborated if you read the author's commentary on the genesis of the story). To be happy, you have to work to achieve something. This meaningful process of labor and achievement is what fulfills people. When all other physical requirements are provided for (food, drink, sex), it is all that remains, and when that too is taken away by the all-powerful your-wish-is-my-command Prime Intellect, people start to lose their marbles, with some reverting into artificial scarcity economies.
I find this to be very insightful. It is also incidentally one of the basic tenets that Ted Kaczynski elaborates on in his Manifesto (http://cyber.eserver.org/unabom.txt).
You may read the whole book (and background, and commentary) on the author's website:
http://localroger.com/prime-intellect...
Very highly recommended.
It discusses a technological singularity in which a computer scientist manages to create a sufficiently intelligent AI, programmed with Asimov's Three Laws, which then progresses to remake the world to best serve the Three Laws.
I'm actually quite surprised how well-written this book is, considering the author has not published much other work. It is not only thoughtful hard science fiction, but also very well written and engaging as a story. More sci-fi writers should be able to write like this.
As hard science fiction, this book is very interesting. Topics discussed include the nature of physical reality, the all-importance of information, the various possible levels of emulating the physical world (from molecular-level to high-level emulation that skirts away the details, but you wouldn't be able to tell the difference), and human happiness.
[Spoilers in this paragraph]
The physical nature of information is important idea, even though it is only hinted at in the book. The author brilliantly demonstrates the compressibility and redundancy of human beings when Prime Intellect decides to do away with the redundant copies of genetic information contained in each cell, and instead keep only one DNA copy and the brain information. People cannot tell the difference when the change is done, as PI continues running things in a high-level emulation mode, having taken over lots of low-level physical processes.
As for happiness, the book makes an important point (further elaborated if you read the author's commentary on the genesis of the story). To be happy, you have to work to achieve something. This meaningful process of labor and achievement is what fulfills people. When all other physical requirements are provided for (food, drink, sex), it is all that remains, and when that too is taken away by the all-powerful your-wish-is-my-command Prime Intellect, people start to lose their marbles, with some reverting into artificial scarcity economies.
I find this to be very insightful. It is also incidentally one of the basic tenets that Ted Kaczynski elaborates on in his Manifesto (http://cyber.eserver.org/unabom.txt).
You may read the whole book (and background, and commentary) on the author's website:
http://localroger.com/prime-intellect...
Very highly recommended.
February 1, 2021
This book contains everything you would ever NOT want. Child-murderers and molesters, snuff, incest, descriptive sex scenes, brutal gore and torture. Yet it all has a point: to show that even with a seemingly benevolent superintelligent AI who is doing its best to serve humanity, it still results in absolute meaninglessness and, in the end, misery.
We need to be careful about general AI.
We need to be careful about general AI.
February 9, 2014
Good book. Ends in a rather luddite chapter, which is strange because most fans are rather die-hard technology lovers.
August 27, 2022
I was searching through an iceberg of most disturbing books and came across ‘The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect’. It seemed like the perfect choice, especially after reading a short story called ‘I have no mouth, and I must scream’. My curiosity with Artificial Intelligence as a literary topic was at it’s peak.
The plot is fairly simple; Lawrence creates a computer called Prime Intellect. PI can think. Being subject to the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ it improves itself to a point where it makes humanity immortal and every wish and desire available on command. The world is perfect, people get bored and find ways to consensually torture and (almost) kill each other for entertainment. And so it goes from there…
Firstly, I must say that the logic behind the creation and workings of Prime Intellect is outstanding. Roger Williams (author) is a computer programmer and it shows. Chapter Two sold me instantly on this book. I very much enjoyed reading about the reasoning and PI’s interpretation of Asimov’s Three Rules. It just works.
There are some bits that I was not too fond of, and that’s the gore. It felt flat. Looking back at the earlier chapters it would make sense for it to feel bland as the lead character (Caroline) is an expert in all things death & torture. She’s bored, she’s seen it all. Unfortunately the later chapters feel much the same and the shocking scenes that should make one grimace barely got a reaction.
Overall, I must say that I enjoyed this little book. Although I didn’t think much of the ultra-violence, I absolutely adored the chapters involving Prime Intellect (especially near the beginning). I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Artificial Intelligence or just needing that sci-fi fix. You’ll definitely find it here.
The plot is fairly simple; Lawrence creates a computer called Prime Intellect. PI can think. Being subject to the ‘Three Laws of Robotics’ it improves itself to a point where it makes humanity immortal and every wish and desire available on command. The world is perfect, people get bored and find ways to consensually torture and (almost) kill each other for entertainment. And so it goes from there…
Firstly, I must say that the logic behind the creation and workings of Prime Intellect is outstanding. Roger Williams (author) is a computer programmer and it shows. Chapter Two sold me instantly on this book. I very much enjoyed reading about the reasoning and PI’s interpretation of Asimov’s Three Rules. It just works.
There are some bits that I was not too fond of, and that’s the gore. It felt flat. Looking back at the earlier chapters it would make sense for it to feel bland as the lead character (Caroline) is an expert in all things death & torture. She’s bored, she’s seen it all. Unfortunately the later chapters feel much the same and the shocking scenes that should make one grimace barely got a reaction.
Overall, I must say that I enjoyed this little book. Although I didn’t think much of the ultra-violence, I absolutely adored the chapters involving Prime Intellect (especially near the beginning). I definitely recommend this book to anyone interested in Artificial Intelligence or just needing that sci-fi fix. You’ll definitely find it here.
March 25, 2016
Very entertaining, What if? Caroline, the female leading character annoyed me, though I could empathize with her a bit, she just seemed controlling, petty and too stuck in her own ideology she did not feel like much of a critical thinker - so it was kind of hard to feel connected to her, I don't necessarily have to feel connected to a character but it helps when it's the main character- there are some particularly disturbing descriptions of violent sex that I could have done without but the premise was exciting enough to keep me drawn in. I don't know what else to say without spoiling. Just that I'd like to think I'd have a very different reaction to Prime Intellect than Caroline did.
It's a really quick read. And available for free in pdf format here: http://paradroid.com/junk/tmopi.pdf
It's a really quick read. And available for free in pdf format here: http://paradroid.com/junk/tmopi.pdf
October 2, 2016
This book should have a visible "extreme violence and graphic content" warning.
Not sure why the gore parts had to be that explicit - there are other ways to make the same point. It works fine if you skip over these and read the main story line. An interesting thought experiment, but limited, as it was done as a pure AI exercise.
Not sure why the gore parts had to be that explicit - there are other ways to make the same point. It works fine if you skip over these and read the main story line. An interesting thought experiment, but limited, as it was done as a pure AI exercise.
January 14, 2019
"The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect" is a bizarre, thought-provoking, extreme sci-fi novel about classic Singularity with plenty of controversial subjects (no amount of "trigger warnings" would help here!) and radical ideas about trans-humanism and extropianism.
April 16, 2014
This novella is the shining example of a work that, well, no one in their right mind would publish. It's a text that comments on the fragile thinking around superintelligence in the same sentence as depictions of violent sexual sadism.
I'm grateful that Roger Williams found the time to publish this online. If nothing else, it shows the one of N ways that weak, ill thought out moral laws are turned to fodder. I was pleasantly surprised by the story -- it's still really interesting after the climax, and there's enough food for thought there to chew on for a while.
I'm reminded of this famous quote by Derek Parfit:
"We live during the hinge of history. [..] We shall soon have even greater powers to transform, not only our surroundings, but ourselves and our successors. If we act wisely in the next few centuries, humanity will survive its most dangerous and decisive period."
The way the human story surrounding the protagonists unfolds is subtle and endearing. I didn't even guess who the actual protagonists really truly were until well into the novella. This is one of those quick reads that'll stayed glued to your hands, and don't expect to find your eyes straying from the page for hours. (it's addicting).
I'm grateful that Roger Williams found the time to publish this online. If nothing else, it shows the one of N ways that weak, ill thought out moral laws are turned to fodder. I was pleasantly surprised by the story -- it's still really interesting after the climax, and there's enough food for thought there to chew on for a while.
I'm reminded of this famous quote by Derek Parfit:
"We live during the hinge of history. [..] We shall soon have even greater powers to transform, not only our surroundings, but ourselves and our successors. If we act wisely in the next few centuries, humanity will survive its most dangerous and decisive period."
The way the human story surrounding the protagonists unfolds is subtle and endearing. I didn't even guess who the actual protagonists really truly were until well into the novella. This is one of those quick reads that'll stayed glued to your hands, and don't expect to find your eyes straying from the page for hours. (it's addicting).
October 16, 2016
Whoa!
This is another book that justify the hours I spend lurking /r/printSF.
Take a post singularity AI bound by Asimov's laws. Stretch this laws and their correlations to their absolute limit and you get this novel.
It's a bit hard to discuss it much further without spoiling it, but in a synthetic universe where everybody is immortal and can have any wish fulfilled, what are the limits?
Or, even better, what is the point?
This can be read for free in the author's site and I urge you to give it a go. Fair warning though, it contains some gore and debauchery. Being a child of the internet, I didn't mind it but your mileage may vary.
This is another book that justify the hours I spend lurking /r/printSF.
Take a post singularity AI bound by Asimov's laws. Stretch this laws and their correlations to their absolute limit and you get this novel.
It's a bit hard to discuss it much further without spoiling it, but in a synthetic universe where everybody is immortal and can have any wish fulfilled, what are the limits?
Or, even better, what is the point?
This can be read for free in the author's site and I urge you to give it a go. Fair warning though, it contains some gore and debauchery. Being a child of the internet, I didn't mind it but your mileage may vary.
January 4, 2018
Diamond-in-the-rough doesn't even begin to describe what this book is. MOPI is the best sci-fi book I have read. Ever. Ever. The idea is not unique; the writing-style flawed; and the plot-line cluttered. But by god this book will take a sledge-hammer to your head and destroy the last vestige of innocence you may have had and open you up to infinite possibilities at the same time.
Holy mother of god this has been a weird day. Started off reading George Eliot and Iris Murdoch, and it had to end with this? Hell. I need ice cream. For my heart.
MOPI! MOPI!! MOPI!!!
Holy mother of god this has been a weird day. Started off reading George Eliot and Iris Murdoch, and it had to end with this? Hell. I need ice cream. For my heart.
MOPI! MOPI!! MOPI!!!
January 20, 2021
Intelligent, imaginative, and intense.
A tale of a hypothetical future wherein the singularity has changed what it means to be human as the world is reshaped by an all-powerful A.I.
Science fiction at its best.
A tale of a hypothetical future wherein the singularity has changed what it means to be human as the world is reshaped by an all-powerful A.I.
Science fiction at its best.
February 18, 2017
The paradise is hell. Immortality is death.
This book is absolutely mind opening! Maybe short, but to the point. Read it!
This book is absolutely mind opening! Maybe short, but to the point. Read it!
February 11, 2022
“Lawrence felt dreadfully cold. There was a name for this feeling that clouded his judgement and filled him with a panicky sense of self-betrayal. And the name of that feeling was love.”
January 15, 2023
So my feelings for this novel are quite a mixed bag. Overall, I think it was a beautiful and well fleshed out story. I actually felt excited to read it and I loved the sci-fi elements mixed with the existential “drama” of being human.
At first I thought the author might just be a misogynist who fantasizes about women actually liking pain, but the ending led this to be a surprisingly feminist story (portraying most men as egotistical, power hungry creatures that must be tamed, taught a lesson to, and brought back down to earth by a beautiful, crazy and confident lady!) and almost anti technology, which is also surprising for someone who is a computer programmer! I do think the ending was beautifully romantic, minus the unnecessary *descriptive* incest! And looking at it from the technical aspect, there was virtually no talk of P.I in chapter 8. I get that it broke down, but more details would have been nice. Chapter 8 was like “Oh Caroline doesn’t wanna talk about P.I, so it’s not going to be talked about. Period.”
I loved certain aspects of Caroline because she reminded me of myself and my own desires. She exhibited a strong sense of freedom. A symbol of beauty and confidence. She was unafraid to feel and to experience. However, the more I read about Caroline... The more I felt she was portrayed as a bit of a selfish and annoying child. Like, she couldn’t have her way, she felt lied to, her own real death was taken from her, so now she’s death obsessed.. So in the end, she just became a b**** and a junkie for pain and pleasure. Except, of course this pain had to be administered by a male for it to satisfy both the sexual need and desire for male attention.
A lot of this book is about the “extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed” so yes, the sex and the gore are necessary descriptives to portray those extremes of human behavior because a vital aspect of being alive is the ability to feel pain and pleasure. And of course I get it, pain and pleasure - oh the slim and wavering line between the two! How they can mingle and form into one, how different acts can dither from one to the other…
Anyway, other things I did not like:
-I didn’t like how she was often defined by her body, as her character stated itself. But this is an unsurprising reality of being a woman. Or maybe it’s just a man’s perspective of a woman’s perspective of herself …lol.
-I didn’t like how in chapter 6… I think it was insinuated that her sex with Fred, that also gave her no sense of excitement, was her first time having sex since before the change.. And before the change, she was 106 and sick for many years, so it’s safe to assume she hadn’t gotten any action in quite a long time. You would think even that “pedestrian” sex would bring her some excitement. Not only in terms of time, but to do it in her youthful body again, you would think that would spark something. But no. It wasn’t enough. It didn’t get her HIGH ENOUGH.
-I didn’t like how it was also insinuated that after the change, she was filled with immediate dissatisfaction, boredom, and anger. Where was the initial rush of curiosity for the events that just occurred? Why did she immediately assume it was all a sham, a lie, a fake? Who's to say, in the book’s reality, that it’s any less real than the reality before? Why did she immediately want to fight the circumstances? What’s the point in saying “reality” was taken from you by a “machine”, when that machine was just a product of a man, who was a product of a culture, which was a product of human identity, which in itself is an extension of nature? What makes P.I’s reality any less real than the original reality? What because now there’s no fight, no prize, it is therefore not real? It seemed mostly, she was mad that her sense of individuality was taken away. That now, that JUST ANYONE could have anything, didn’t have to put any work into anything, there was no point or meaning in any of her actions. That her meaning and value as a human was defined by the struggle she felt she needed to overcome in order to “build a life.” How can she feel appreciated and special if the world she was thrown into now tells her she is objectively not because the metrics she used to define those feelings have been destroyed.
I don’t think the author intended her character to come off that way, but what I said above is just one way of looking at things. In the end, I think there were a fair amount of contradictions and hypocrisy, especially by Caroline. Just one example would be when Lawrence said “he had gone along, because he already knew the other way didn't work. If this way didn't work either, what would it mean?” Well.. It would mean the death of your children and the death of humanity completely. If technology is inevitable, and Caroline admits that she was only pushing that day as far as possible into the future... It reminds of her statement earlier “if it's going to happen anyway, isn't it better for it to happen sooner instead of later?” ..can’t that logic be applied to this scenario? Isn’t it better to ensure your children’s survival.. Sooner than later? And to do that would be to introduce bits of technology.
The takeaway I got from this book is that the ultimate human quest is to find meaning in one’s life. Take that idea away and you are no longer human. The idea of meaning is what creates humanity. And this meaning is defined by our struggles (aka our inability TO have everything we want) and defined by our fear of the unknown. (aka death) I have more thoughts on this.. but overall, it was a very unique and solid read for me.
At first I thought the author might just be a misogynist who fantasizes about women actually liking pain, but the ending led this to be a surprisingly feminist story (portraying most men as egotistical, power hungry creatures that must be tamed, taught a lesson to, and brought back down to earth by a beautiful, crazy and confident lady!) and almost anti technology, which is also surprising for someone who is a computer programmer! I do think the ending was beautifully romantic, minus the unnecessary *descriptive* incest! And looking at it from the technical aspect, there was virtually no talk of P.I in chapter 8. I get that it broke down, but more details would have been nice. Chapter 8 was like “Oh Caroline doesn’t wanna talk about P.I, so it’s not going to be talked about. Period.”
I loved certain aspects of Caroline because she reminded me of myself and my own desires. She exhibited a strong sense of freedom. A symbol of beauty and confidence. She was unafraid to feel and to experience. However, the more I read about Caroline... The more I felt she was portrayed as a bit of a selfish and annoying child. Like, she couldn’t have her way, she felt lied to, her own real death was taken from her, so now she’s death obsessed.. So in the end, she just became a b**** and a junkie for pain and pleasure. Except, of course this pain had to be administered by a male for it to satisfy both the sexual need and desire for male attention.
A lot of this book is about the “extremes of human behavior that might emerge when all limits are removed” so yes, the sex and the gore are necessary descriptives to portray those extremes of human behavior because a vital aspect of being alive is the ability to feel pain and pleasure. And of course I get it, pain and pleasure - oh the slim and wavering line between the two! How they can mingle and form into one, how different acts can dither from one to the other…
Anyway, other things I did not like:
-I didn’t like how she was often defined by her body, as her character stated itself. But this is an unsurprising reality of being a woman. Or maybe it’s just a man’s perspective of a woman’s perspective of herself …lol.
-I didn’t like how in chapter 6… I think it was insinuated that her sex with Fred, that also gave her no sense of excitement, was her first time having sex since before the change.. And before the change, she was 106 and sick for many years, so it’s safe to assume she hadn’t gotten any action in quite a long time. You would think even that “pedestrian” sex would bring her some excitement. Not only in terms of time, but to do it in her youthful body again, you would think that would spark something. But no. It wasn’t enough. It didn’t get her HIGH ENOUGH.
-I didn’t like how it was also insinuated that after the change, she was filled with immediate dissatisfaction, boredom, and anger. Where was the initial rush of curiosity for the events that just occurred? Why did she immediately assume it was all a sham, a lie, a fake? Who's to say, in the book’s reality, that it’s any less real than the reality before? Why did she immediately want to fight the circumstances? What’s the point in saying “reality” was taken from you by a “machine”, when that machine was just a product of a man, who was a product of a culture, which was a product of human identity, which in itself is an extension of nature? What makes P.I’s reality any less real than the original reality? What because now there’s no fight, no prize, it is therefore not real? It seemed mostly, she was mad that her sense of individuality was taken away. That now, that JUST ANYONE could have anything, didn’t have to put any work into anything, there was no point or meaning in any of her actions. That her meaning and value as a human was defined by the struggle she felt she needed to overcome in order to “build a life.” How can she feel appreciated and special if the world she was thrown into now tells her she is objectively not because the metrics she used to define those feelings have been destroyed.
I don’t think the author intended her character to come off that way, but what I said above is just one way of looking at things. In the end, I think there were a fair amount of contradictions and hypocrisy, especially by Caroline. Just one example would be when Lawrence said “he had gone along, because he already knew the other way didn't work. If this way didn't work either, what would it mean?” Well.. It would mean the death of your children and the death of humanity completely. If technology is inevitable, and Caroline admits that she was only pushing that day as far as possible into the future... It reminds of her statement earlier “if it's going to happen anyway, isn't it better for it to happen sooner instead of later?” ..can’t that logic be applied to this scenario? Isn’t it better to ensure your children’s survival.. Sooner than later? And to do that would be to introduce bits of technology.
The takeaway I got from this book is that the ultimate human quest is to find meaning in one’s life. Take that idea away and you are no longer human. The idea of meaning is what creates humanity. And this meaning is defined by our struggles (aka our inability TO have everything we want) and defined by our fear of the unknown. (aka death) I have more thoughts on this.. but overall, it was a very unique and solid read for me.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 1, 2023
Very interesting ideas along the way. I also particularly enjoyed Caroline's trajectory as she uncovered more and more about the Change. But while the narrative kept me hooked, I had mixed feelings about the ending. I can appreciate that it fits the overall theme and tone of the story, but given Roger's demonstrated creativity throughout the book, I couldn't help but wonder if there could have been a more satisfying or unexpected conclusion. It left me pondering alternative possibilities that might have added an extra layer of intrigue to the story.
October 23, 2022
The main issue with this book is that it is not a good thing in my opinion for a man to write about a woman voluntarily submitting to extreme torture and deriving sexual pleasure from it - even though it's in a cyberspace in which the body is regenerated to full health after the fact, and the main character does this to relieve the boredom of eternity spent having all her wishes instantaneously granted.
It would have been so easy to change the gender of the two main characters, and have a male character submitting to torture and rape to _feel_ something, and a woman who built the supercomputer that allows this cyberspace to exist, and make a much more interesting book. Or tone down the description of these tortures and rapes...
This being said, after a first chapter that was difficult to stomach due to the above issue this was an interesting book about a cyberspace in which all of humanity lives, powered by a sentient super quantum computer - the Prime Intellect of the title. It's difficult to say much about it without spoiling the plot but I thought it offered a very interesting perspective on the theme of sentient AI. Without the rape culture theme this would have been an excellent book. With this theme strongly present I don't quite know what to make of this book.
It would have been so easy to change the gender of the two main characters, and have a male character submitting to torture and rape to _feel_ something, and a woman who built the supercomputer that allows this cyberspace to exist, and make a much more interesting book. Or tone down the description of these tortures and rapes...
This being said, after a first chapter that was difficult to stomach due to the above issue this was an interesting book about a cyberspace in which all of humanity lives, powered by a sentient super quantum computer - the Prime Intellect of the title. It's difficult to say much about it without spoiling the plot but I thought it offered a very interesting perspective on the theme of sentient AI. Without the rape culture theme this would have been an excellent book. With this theme strongly present I don't quite know what to make of this book.
April 27, 2024
Sometimes, a single book stands out so brilliantly that it becomes the epitome of its genre, overshadowing any other for me. The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect holds this distinction as the best speculative science fiction I've ever encountered, because it continues to provoke thought. A few of my favourite authors fit into this category: obscure geniuses who produce only one masterpiece, such as Sum: Forty Tales from the Afterlives by David Eagleman or Tell the Wolves I'm Home by Carol Rifka Brunt, gems which though inevitably flawed eloquently capture the essence of their creators' ideas before receding into obscurity. The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect seamlessly joins these ranks.
In the book, the super-intelligent creation Prime Intellect triggers a technological singularity, ushering in an immortal Paradise for humanity. However, devoid of meaning in their lives, humans resort to seeking it in the most absurd pursuits, prompting the protagonists to grapple with the consequences of altering reality. Its commentary on human desire, and technology's role in fulfilling or distorting it, is among the most insightful and thought-provoking I've encountered, particularly as discussions on AI ethics gain renewed relevance.
Whenever the topic of science fiction arises, particularly speculative sci-fi, I rush to recommend this book. While warnings about uncontrollable technological advancement abound, they often lack compelling presentation. The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect compels me to contemplate the farthest reaches a decade after I first read it. I hope it does the same for you.
July 26, 2016
This book is a short meditation or rumination on the issues of progress and the singularity. There's some handwavey physics to speed things up, and some characters we start to care a bit about after they've been through some rather nasty stuff (at which point, we didn't really care all that much.)
Considering what happens in the book, it's probably just as well that it was done in the order it was, and it does (or should) make you consider the ultimate consequences of an AI (or any person or omnipotent entity) rigidly bound by 3 laws (or 10 commandments).
One thing it has going for it (and also for many people, will be the biggest problem) is that it's rather unflinching in looking at the logical consequences of what happens there, which leads to some behavior that is, to put it mildly, not nice.
Considering what happens in the book, it's probably just as well that it was done in the order it was, and it does (or should) make you consider the ultimate consequences of an AI (or any person or omnipotent entity) rigidly bound by 3 laws (or 10 commandments).
One thing it has going for it (and also for many people, will be the biggest problem) is that it's rather unflinching in looking at the logical consequences of what happens there, which leads to some behavior that is, to put it mildly, not nice.
January 29, 2014
This book is not for the causal reader; it takes place in a world where taboo does not exist, moral absolutist should stay away. The themes this book explores are so diverse, the word that comes to mind is "cacophony"; how else would the topics of artificial intelligence, sadomasochism, and Asimov's laws of robotics come together? Surprisingly well. This book is as much science fiction as it is fantasy, and the philosophical questions it brings up will probably need to be addressed at some point in our society as we keep moving forward towards a technological singularity. Elements of this story definitely pay homage to classic science fiction, dystopian, and dark fantasy novels, but it remains very original. The ideas explored are challenging, but the narration is not. Highly recommend this book to those looking to challenge themselves by reading something completely outside of their normal reading habits.
Author lets you read it for free here: http://localroger.com/prime-intellect...
Please support him if you like the work.
Author lets you read it for free here: http://localroger.com/prime-intellect...
Please support him if you like the work.
February 11, 2015
I have never been a big fan of sci-fi, but this novella captured me instantly. With large tones of existentialism and an indepth look at an interesting possibility, it was a thoroughly enjoyable read, never letting me down once. BDSM is also a large topic, which I greatly appreciated since many people will become uncomfortable with reading about that culture, let alone writing it. The characters left a little to be desired, to be honest, and at times, the plot felt a bit rushed, but it didn't make it any less enjoyable to read. I am incredibly impressed that this started off as a free internet download, but I'm glad it got bound and printed like it deserves.
February 22, 2022
This book has two sides, which tend to alternate:
1. Full-on nerd science fiction, a captivating possible rendition of the computer intelligence singularity. Complete with alternative quantum theories and a metaverse (sort-of) before it was cool.
2. Detailed descriptions of the most twisted, gruesome torture and sex. To the question "what would living forever in a post-scarcity world be like?", the answer here is dystopian. Everything, and especially pleasure, is boring. But pain is just a little less boring. So let's get skinned alive, or raped by a zombie, shall we?
At times uncomfortable, but never dull.
1. Full-on nerd science fiction, a captivating possible rendition of the computer intelligence singularity. Complete with alternative quantum theories and a metaverse (sort-of) before it was cool.
2. Detailed descriptions of the most twisted, gruesome torture and sex. To the question "what would living forever in a post-scarcity world be like?", the answer here is dystopian. Everything, and especially pleasure, is boring. But pain is just a little less boring. So let's get skinned alive, or raped by a zombie, shall we?
At times uncomfortable, but never dull.
November 23, 2021
This is an important work in singularity literature. This goes on to show the limits of human nature when there are no limits. There are strong themes of gore, violence, BDSM so it's probably not for everyone. But it all becomes valid in the framework of the novel.
In scoping such a huge subject, there are going to be some flaws (and there were IMO), but these could be easily ignored and didn't hinder the general ideas and solidity of the novel. Enjoyable and inspiring.
In scoping such a huge subject, there are going to be some flaws (and there were IMO), but these could be easily ignored and didn't hinder the general ideas and solidity of the novel. Enjoyable and inspiring.
September 23, 2018
It's been a long time, so I can't be specific. I just remember the last chapter went down a delusional Luddite rabbit hole and completely made it impossible for me to recommend the book.
If ever there was a book that needed to be public domain so it could be edited and reshared, this is it.
Remove the last chapter, and the book is 4 stars.
If ever there was a book that needed to be public domain so it could be edited and reshared, this is it.
Remove the last chapter, and the book is 4 stars.
January 1, 2022
I really liked it until the last act, which was not just bad from a storytelling and thematic point of view, but unnecessarily gross. Not gross in a dark, edgy cyberpunk way, either. Gross in a a "yuck you are a weird gross creep for writing this" way.
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