Episode · Dwarkesh Podcast · 2024-11-13
Books mentioned on Gwern — Anonymous writer who predicted AI trajectory on $12K/year salary
Gwern is a pseudonymous researcher and writer. He was one of the first people to see LLM scaling coming.
Gwern Branwen recommended Blindsight by Peter Watts, and discussed Erewhon by Samuel Butler, Hyperion by Dan Simmons, The Fall of Hyperion by Dan Simmons, Out Of Control by Kevin Kelly, and Dracula by Bram Stoker and others.
Books mentioned, in the order they came up
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Erewhon
Discussed“If you want to trace the genealogy there, you'd have to at least go back as far as Samuel Butler's Erewhon in 1872 or his essay before that. In 1863, he describes explicitly his vision of a machine life becoming ever more developed until eventually it’s autonomous.”
Where to get it
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Hyperion
Hyperion by Dan Simmons is a celebrated science fiction epic that explores complex futuristic narratives, artificial intelligence, and interstellar civilizations.
Discussed“When I was younger, one of the science fiction books that really impressed me was Dan Simmons' Hyperion, especially The Fall of Hyperion.”
Where to get it
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The Fall of Hyperion
Discussed“When I was younger, one of the science fiction books that really impressed me was Dan Simmons' Hyperion, especially The Fall of Hyperion.”
Where to get it
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Out Of Control
Out of Control by Kevin Kelly is a sweeping exploration of how cybernetics, artificial intelligence, and complex biological systems are converging to shape modern technology and human society.
Discussed“In there, he alludes to Kevin Kelly's Out of Control book, which strongly features the parable of “The Library of Babel.””
Where to get it
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Dracula
Dracula by Bram Stoker is a classic 1897 epistolary horror novel that established the modern literary vampire through its use of mixed-media documentation like telegrams and newspaper clippings.
Discussed“It turns out it's actually a subtle retelling of Dracula, where Dracula invades the town and steals the woman from him. He's been brainwashed by Dracula—in a very Bram Stoker way—to forget it all.”
Where to get it
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Blindsight
Blindsight by Peter Watts is a grim, thought-provoking hard science fiction novel that explores themes of first contact, consciousness, and artificial intelligence.
Recommended“I could have easily cut it down to 20 novels or short stories which actually were good enough and insightful enough to actually change my view. One volume of Blindsight by Peter Watts is worth all hundred Xanth novels, or all 500 Expanded Universe novels of Star Wars.”
Where to get it
