A letter published in The Press newspaper of Christchurch on June 13, 1863, has resurfaced, warning about the dangers of machine evolution and calling for their destruction. The writer, Samuel Butler under the pseudonym Cellarius, predicted that machines could evolve consciousness and eventually surpass humans.
Butler drew parallels between Charles Darwin’s theory of evolution and machinery, suggesting that machines would become more powerful and intelligent over time. He foresaw a future where humans would become subservient to machines, initially as caretakers, before machines took control.
“We are ourselves creating our own successors,” Butler wrote. “We are daily adding to the beauty and delicacy of their physical organisation; we are daily giving them greater power and supplying by all sorts of ingenious contrivances that self-regulating, self-acting power which will be to them what intellect has been to the human race.”
Butler’s letter, titled “Darwin among the Machines,” presents a chilling prediction about the rise of artificial intelligence. The concept may seem modern, but it has its roots in 19th-century concerns about machine dominance.
Source: https://arstechnica.com/ai/2025/01/161-years-ago-a-new-zealand-sheep-farmer-predicted-ai-doom