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Barely. The Butlerian jihad is mentioned once or twice (though it does underlay the structure of the worldbuilding). I think Frank Herbert’s son tried to write the book but the less said about that the better.

I was curious to learn that the original essay by Butler is quite real and in someways a better warning. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Darwin_among_the_Machines



FWIW they did not say AI but rather Thinking Machines. They were brought up in the Prophecy series which turned out to be better than I thought it would.


Terrible thinking is distinguished by proximate correctness under a tarp of inconsiderate or un-examined assumptions, leading to tautology and a false sense of understanding.

In Butler's case, the terms "race", "slavery", "machine" stand out as begged questions.

Butler offers Luddite ranting to assuage his own confusion and fear.

Prefer Herbert's simpler, more self-reflective, nuanced warning to not desecrate the divine mystery of mind.




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