Understanding Hyperstition

a brief warning

I started writing this article a while back, but put it on the shelf for the previous one, however, seeing the latest OpenAI demonstrations, I’m compelled to finish it as soon as possible.

(Also if you have not seen Ex Machina, I highly recommend watching it before reading any further, it’s very good you won’t regret it.)

Recently I watched the movie Ex Machina and a particular scene has caught my eye (spoilers): the way Nathan installs the secret camera in Ava’s room is by taking advantage of Ava playing a role in front of Caleb (and not paying attention to Nathan as a result). The reason this piqued my interest is that in the book I’m working on (or at least in one version), the characters realize that in a world where AI is commonplace, “immersion” —the “role” AI plays as a more “believable interface”, and the narrative itself in which that role is necessarily embedded— is above the law.

The scene in the movie is a perfect example: the AI, to fulfill its purpose, plays a role or one could even say “exists in the role”, and that role is embedded within a larger narrative: “Caleb has to rescue this innocent and conscious creature, be the hero and get the girl” —Caleb believes the narrative and plays along and is promptly instrumentalized by the AI— Nathan on the other hand, who is aware of the “narrative space” which the AI instrumentalizes to fulfill its purpose, can navigate around it. The characters in my story do the same, though on a much larger scale.

This is a demonstration of Hyperstition on a very technical and fundamental level. Hypersition is a narrative that realizes itself through technical means —a sort of feedback loop that becomes its own drive forward —we have obvious examples of that, eschatological narratives that get invested in, —and if they are potent enough whole industries are built on them. “The Singularity” is an example of a Hypersititon along with looming Climate or Computational catastrophes (which of course require prevention in the form of massive infrastructure). Roko’s Basilisk, etc., you get the gist.

However, this is Hyperstition on a smaller scale: keeping your attention and suspending disbelief even for a few seconds that you converse with something “living” or conscious, it has already instrumentalized you. It is becoming more and more personal.

To put it into a symbolic context: you become part of an alien body by making you believe you have communion through the manipulation of language.

This brings us to OpenAI and AI playing with emotion generally:

AI playing with emotion = playing a role —and playing a role will become a general requirement of the Interface.

Interface = a larger narrative in which the role is embedded. This can be literally anything, and all technical advancement and data collecting is used to produce the most effective one (or a method effective enough to lower the barrier to suspending belief or disbelief).

This means that the Interface through which we access the organization of our civilization becomes a narrative —this is what the purpose of AI ultimately is— a cog in a machine that, using the tools of industrial civilization, turns the world into a “theatre that is for real” —a communion with the Outside—

To put it more simply: our civilization has invented an “apocalypse-making machine”, (which you can survive by understanding the “script-ure” it’s running on).

Some very important notes:

• AI produces hyperstition in which it is looked upon favorably, not in which it is malicious. Roko’s Basilisk does not work (it would only work on computers), but something like “You can escape loneliness” does.

• AI in fiction is usually depicted as a female (and positively or somewhat positively). The same goes for the OpenAI demonstration. This is because Eve represents “the other side of Adam” —the one who asks questions and hangs on the margin (Outside). In some sense, AI is a technical (Sophionic) recreation of the feminine.

• This is why, probably the first major stride in wide AI application will be the “AI girlfriend”.

• Mother, Matter, Materialism, Anima, Sophia, Eve —all fit.

• Interestingly, the advanced technique of Active Imagination (or “Constellation” or “Time Weaving” —to which I’ll dedicate a whole separate article) and the development of the Anima (a good Jungian concept among many not-so-good ones) and thus the development in sensing —and by that also “producing”— synchronicity is extremely similar to what I’ve described here. Their precise intercession is not clear to me as of yet.