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Abstract

This thesis compares representations of artificial intelligence in the texts Erewhon (1872) by Samuel Butler and The Age of Spiritual Machines: When Computers Exceed Human Intelligence by Ray Kurzweil (2000). Through comparative analysis as a method of investigation, I argue that together, these works demonstrate hyperstition, a process where fictional concepts are manifested in cultural realities, by mythologizing machine intelligence as an all-powerful force that will overtake humanity. The key finding of my research is that despite their respective differences in time period and genre (late nineteenth versus cusp of twenty-first century, science fiction versus speculative non-fiction), the rhetorical modalities in Erewhon, involving a melange of evolutionary theory, religious metaphors and technological determinism, are also present in The Age of Spiritual Machines. Works like Kurzweil’s, despite their roots in science fiction, continue to influence contemporary perceptions and discourses on artificial intelligence. Kurzweil is not the first nor last to imbue machines with spiritual significance, but only one example of this larger cultural phenomenon. Thus, my research explores the extent to which hyperstition can explain the ways in which speculative representations of machine intelligence have shifted from their precursory imaginings in Erewhon to Ray Kurzweil’s The Age of Spiritual Machines. In the first chapter, I outline the broader theoretical and historical foundations of my work. Chapter 2 examines how the texts use rhetorics related to technological determinism, humour, religion, and evolution to contribute to the mythologization and elevation of artificial intelligence to an almost godlike (or daemonic) entity. Finally, the concluding chapter discusses the wider societal implications of the belief in AI superintelligence as a hyperreal, hyperstitional phenomenon.