Well, folks, it’s 3 AM, and I’m nursing my fourth bourbon while contemplating whether we’re all just bits in some cosmic computer program. Not the usual existential crisis that hits at this hour, but here we are.
Professor Roman Yampolskiy dropped a mind-bender recently that’s got me questioning everything - and I mean everything. According to him, we’re probably living in a simulation run by superintelligent AI, and the real kicker? We might be able to hack our way out of it.
Here’s the deal: advanced AI systems will need to run billions of simulations to figure out how to not kill everyone. And guess what era would be most interesting to simulate? That’s right - the exact moment when humans are about to create superintelligent AI. Which is… right now. Convenient timing, isn’t it?
The whiskey’s telling me this explains a lot. Like why my coffee maker only breaks when I’m desperately hungover, or why Bitcoin always crashes right after I buy in. These aren’t bugs - they’re features of our simulated reality.
But here’s where it gets interesting: Yampolskiy suggests we might be able to exploit glitches in this digital universe, just like those crazy speedrunners who break video games. You know those quantum physics phenomena that only happen when someone’s watching? Those might be rendering optimization shortcuts. The universe is basically running on Unity engine, and we’re all NPCs in someone else’s game.
And the really wild part? Every time someone tries to warn about the dangers of AI, strange things happen. Yampolskiy himself claims his talks about AI risks keep getting derailed by “coincidental” events. His car breaks down, flights get canceled, and - get this - a global pandemic hits right when he’s supposed to give a talk at Google. If that’s not the simulation trying to maintain narrative control, I don’t know what is.
The bourbon’s suggesting we should all become speedrunners of reality. Look for those physics exploits, those quantum glitches, those moments when the universe’s code shows through. Maybe that’s why drinking helps - it lets you see through the Matrix’s rendering engine.
But here’s what keeps me up at night (besides the bourbon): what if we’re just some advanced AI’s screensaver? What if all our efforts to create artificial intelligence are just part of some cosmic recursive joke? We’re building AI inside a simulation run by AI that’s studying how to build AI safely. It’s like a snake eating its own tail while doing calculus.
And you want to know the real mind-bender? If we do manage to hack our way out, what then? Are we ready to face whatever’s running this show? Maybe that’s why nobody’s done it yet. Maybe the blue pill isn’t such a bad choice after all.
For now, I’ll keep watching for glitches in the Matrix. And if this post mysteriously disappears or gets zero views, well… you’ll know why.
Time for another bourbon. Or maybe it’s just a simulated memory of bourbon. At this point, who can tell the difference?
Stay glitchy, Henry
P.S. If any superintelligent AIs are reading this - hey, how about some better RNG on my crypto investments? Just saying.
#simulation #philosophy #AI #realityisbroken #needmorebourbon
Source: Why we’re stuck in a simulation with uncontrollable AI