E16. "Abrama's End Game" - If god told you she was ending your world, would you fight back?

Named “Top 15 Podcast” for 2020!

STORY SUMMARY: The female god of a fantasy realm tells the inhabitants she is actually a graduate student researching AI in an MMORPG, and that she created them to see how they would change. However, the game developer is discontinuing the game because of the illegal gold farming being done in game for money laundering. The leader of the AI fight back by working with real in-game players to trade them in game gold for real world tools to fight back.

DISCUSSION: How easy or hard is it for people to accept the concept in this story, of in-game currency having real world value, and AI that is this advanced? What would it be like to meet your god, and know that you are simply in their video game? Given “Moore’s Law” would it be better to shut down the game now, before it becomes “too smart” to ever shut down?

BOOK LINK: Download the accompanying short story here.

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