Each and every time I examine some other advance in AI era, I think like some other figment of science fiction strikes nearer to fact.
In recent times, I’ve been noticing eerie parallels to Neal Stephenson’s 1995 novel “The Diamond Age: Or, A Young Lady’s Illustrated Primer.”
“The Diamond Age” depicted a post-cyberpunk sectarian long run, during which society is fragmented into tribes, known as phyles. On this long run global, subtle nanotechnology is ubiquitous, and a brand new form of AI is offered.
Despite the fact that impressed via MIT nanotech pioneer Eric Drexler and Nobel Prize winner Richard Feynman, the complicated nanotechnology depicted within the novel nonetheless stays out of succeed in. Alternatively, the AI that’s portrayed, in particular a instructing software known as the Younger Girl’s Illustrated Primer, isn’t most effective proper in entrance folks; it additionally raises critical problems in regards to the position of AI in exertions, finding out and human conduct.
In Stephenson’s novel, the Primer seems like a hardcover e-book, however every of its “pages” is in reality a display show that may display animations and textual content, and it responds to its consumer in genuine time by the use of AI. The e-book additionally has an audio part, which voices the characters and narrates tales being instructed via the software.
It was once firstly created for the younger daughter of an aristocrat, however it by accident falls into the arms of a lady named Nell who’s residing at the streets of a futuristic Shanghai. The Primer supplies Nell personalised emotional, social and highbrow strengthen right through her adventure to maturity, serving however as an AI better half, a storyteller, a trainer and a surrogate guardian.
The AI is in a position to weave fairy stories that assist a more youthful Nell deal with previous traumas, akin to her abusive house and lifestyles at the streets. It educates her on the whole thing from math to cryptography to martial arts. In a techno-futuristic homage to George Bernard Shaw’s 1913 play “Pygmalion,” the Primer is going as far as to show Nell the correct social etiquette so as to mix into neo-Victorian society, probably the most distinguished tribes in Stephenson’s balkanized global.
Little need for ‘ractors’
3 fresh trends in AI – in video video games, wearable era and training – disclose that development one thing just like the Primer will have to now not be thought to be the purview of science fiction.
In Might 2025, the hit online game “Fortnite” offered an AI model of Darth Vader, who speaks with the voice of the overdue James Earl Jones.
The property of James Earl Jones gave Epic Video games permission to make use of the overdue actor’s voice for an AI Darth Vader.
Jim Spellman/WireImage by the use of Getty Photographs
Whilst it was once in style amongst fanatics of the sport, the Display Actors Guild lodged a exertions criticism with Epic Video games, the author of “Fortnite.” Even supposing Epic had gained permission from the overdue actor’s property, the Display Actors Guild identified that actors may have been employed to voice the nature, and the corporate – in refusing to alert the union and negotiate phrases – violated current exertions agreements.
In “The Diamond Age,” whilst the Primer makes use of AI to generate the fairy stories that educate Nell, for the voices of those archetypal characters, Stephenson concocted a low-tech resolution: The characters are performed via a community of what he termed “ractors” – genuine actors running in a studio who’re gotten smaller to accomplish and engage in genuine time with customers.
The Darth Vader “Fortnite” personality displays {that a} Primer constructed lately wouldn’t wish to use actors in any respect. It would depend virtually fully on AI voice technology and feature real-time conversations, appearing that lately’s era already exceeds Stephenson’s usually far-sighted imaginative and prescient.
Recording and guiding in genuine time
Synthesizing James Earl Jones’ voice in “Fortnite” wasn’t the one fresh AI construction heralding the coming of Primer-like era.
I lately witnessed an indication of wearable AI that information all the wearer’s conversations. Their phrases are then despatched to a server so they may be able to be analyzed via AI, offering each summaries and recommendations to the consumer about long run conduct.
A number of startups are making those “always on” AI wearables. In an April 29, 2025, essay titled “I Recorded Everything I Said for Three Months. AI Has Replaced My Memory,” Wall Side road Magazine era columnist Joanna Stern describes the revel in of the usage of this era. She concedes that the assistants created helpful summaries of her conversations and conferences, together with useful to-do lists. Alternatively, additionally they recalled “every dumb, private and cringeworthy thing that came out of my mouth.”
AI wearable gadgets that steadily file the conversations in their customers have just lately hit the marketplace.
Those gadgets additionally create privateness problems. The folk whom the consumer interacts with don’t consistently know they’re being recorded, at the same time as their phrases also are despatched to a server for the AI to procedure them. To Stern, the era’s possible for mass surveillance turns into readily obvious, presenting a “slightly terrifying glimpse of the future.”
Depending on AI engines akin to ChatGPT, Claude and Google’s Gemini, the wearables paintings most effective with phrases, no longer photographs. Behavioral tips happen most effective after the reality. Alternatively, a key serve as of the Primer – training customers in genuine time in the midst of any state of affairs or social interplay – is the following logical step because the era advances.
Schooling or social engineering?
In “The Diamond Age,” the Primer doesn’t merely weave interactive fairy stories for Nell. It additionally assumes the duty of training her on the whole thing from her ABCs when more youthful to the intricacies of cryptography and politics as she will get older.
It’s no secret that AI equipment, akin to ChatGPT, are actually being extensively utilized by each academics and scholars.
A number of fresh research have proven that AI is also simpler than people at instructing laptop science. One survey discovered that 85% of scholars mentioned ChatGPT was once simpler than a human tutor. And a minimum of one school, Morehouse Faculty in Atlanta, is introducing an AI instructing assistant for professors.
There are no doubt benefits to AI tutors: Tutoring and faculty tuition may also be exorbitantly pricey, and the era can be offering higher get right of entry to to training to folks of all source of revenue ranges.
Pulling in combination those newest AI advances – interactive avatars, behavioral guides, tutors – it’s simple to ascertain how an AI software just like the Younger Girl’s Illustrated Primer might be created within the close to long run. A teen may have a personalised AI personality that accompanies them all the time. It could educate them in regards to the global and be offering up tips for learn how to act in sure eventualities. The AI might be adapted to a kid’s character, concocting tales that come with AI variations in their favourite TV and picture characters.
However “The Diamond Age” gives a caution, too.
Towards the top of the unconventional, a model of the Primer is passed out to masses of 1000’s of younger Chinese language ladies who, like Nell, didn’t have get right of entry to to training or mentors. This ends up in the training of the loads. Nevertheless it additionally opens the door to large-scale social engineering, growing a military of Primer-raised martial arts mavens, whom the AI then directs to behave on behalf of “Princess Nell,” Nell’s fairy story title.
It’s simple to peer how this kind of large-scale social engineering might be used to focus on sure ideologies, weigh down dissent or construct loyalty to a selected regime. The AI’s conduct may be topic to the whims of the corporations or folks that created it. A ubiquitous, always-on, pleasant AI may turn into without equal tracking and reporting software. Bring to mind a kinder, gentler face for Large Brother that folks have depended on since formative years.
Whilst large-scale deployment of a Primer-like AI may no doubt make younger folks smarter and extra environment friendly, it might additionally abate some of the necessary portions of training: instructing folks to suppose for themselves.
