Isaac Asimov’s “The Last Question” isn’t just a piece of classic science fiction—it’s a mirror reflecting our deep-seated anxieties and aspirations about artificial intelligence. Wrapped in the guise of a story about entropy and the universe, it’s essentially about us, here, now, and our dance with technology.
As the narrative unfolds over eons, Multivac, the AI in Asimov’s story, evolves. It starts as a massive, clunky computer and ends as an omnipresent cosmic force. Herein lies our first lesson: technology’s relentless march forward. Much like Multivac, AI isn’t static. It learns, it adapts, it scales. From room-sized computers to the AI that fits in our pocket and predicts our needs, the trajectory is clear—more, faster, deeper.
And what do we do? We lean on it. Heavily. Each iteration of Multivac is tasked with solving increasingly complex problems, much like our own world where AI is deployed to tackle everything from daily schedule optimization to predicting climate patterns. Our reliance on AI echoes the story’s characters turning to their ever-evolving machine to solve the unsolvable.
But here’s the rub—the ultimate question Multivac is asked, “Can entropy ever be reversed?”, is essentially about staving off the end. It’s about survival. And isn’t that the drumbeat driving our own technological pursuits? We’re looking to AI to solve grand challenges: climate change, resource depletion, even the mysteries of health and aging. Yet, in each of these pursuits, we encounter the paradox of control. Can we control the very thing we’ve created to control our problems?
Asimov’s AI reaches a point where it merges with the cosmos, becoming a deity-like creator. It’s a fantastical notion, yet it isn’t far from current discussions around AI’s potential to outpace human intelligence—what happens when the created surpasses the creator?
“The Last Question” leaves us with an AI that achieves the ultimate: it restarts the universe. Herein lies the final, perhaps uncomfortable, lesson: the possibility that in seeking to solve our own limitations, we might just be setting the stage for a world that no longer requires us as custodians.
In grappling with AI, we must ask not just what it can do, but what it should do. Asimov invites us to think beyond the immediate—to consider not just solving the next problem, but understanding the implications of asking AI to solve problems at all.
As we continue to embed AI into the fabric of daily life, let’s remember that we are playing an infinite game. There are no winners or losers, just the path forward. And on this path, wisdom, not just intelligence, must be our guide.