On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017)
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2007–2026One slot for every year since HN launched. Height is that year's peak points; orange marks a 100+ point or 50+ comment breakout. Select a bar to open its strongest thread.
First comments on top threads
HN comment orderPaper published April 1, 2017. References include "Jack and the beanstalk", Tom from Urban Dictionary and The Matrix.
It took me an embarrassing amount of time to realize I was reading a parody of arguments against machines with human level intelligence (or "larger")
Summary: This is a parody of various arguments about superintelligent AI. It opens by parodying the classic futurist parable of history as exponential growth in intellect and technology, recasting history as a tale of growth in size (after all, the earliest organisms were tiny). It recasts fears about superintelligent AI as fears about super-large beings (wouldn't you be afraid of something that could step on you as easily as you step on an ant?). Then it switches to parodying some…
wtf..
The first top-level comment from each of the four biggest threads, in HN’s own order. Excerpts are shortened; open a comment for full context.
- Breakout years
- 2
- Total points
- 206
- Total comments
- 177
100+ points or 50+ comments
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
reference only — not used in Hall rules or ranking
Every submission
| Date | Title as submitted | By | Points | Comments |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2017-04-06 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines | gene-h | 44 | 28 |
| 2021-04-02 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines | MAXPOOL | 1 | 0 |
| 2021-11-20 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017)First breakout · Best thread | FBT | 85 | 95 |
| 2023-04-07 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017) | ftxbro | 1 | 0 |
| 2023-07-16 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines | barry-cotter | 2 | 0 |
| 2023-08-05 | On the Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017) [pdf] | braydenm | 4 | 1 |
| 2024-06-14 | The Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017)Latest 20+ point return | EthanHeilman | 59 | 50 |
| 2026-05-16 | The Impossibility of Supersized Machines (2017) | Luc | 10 | 3 |