Aladdin
AI and Folklore
Posted by Chris Sissons on Nov 15, 2023
AI and Folklore ยป Chris Sissons and Minerva
We’re all familiar with the story of Aladdin, even if only from pantomimes. Whilst it’s a great story, it’s unfortunate we tend to get the impression that genies live in lamps. Even in the same story, there are two genies, the other lives in a ring.
But genies or jinn are much more varied. Minerva tells me “In Islamic tradition, jinn are said to be made of smokeless flame and are considered to be sentient beings with free will, similar to humans.
“Jinn are known for their shapeshifting abilities and can appear as animals or humans. They are also believed to have the power to possess humans, causing them to act in unusual ways. In Middle Eastern folklore, jinn are often associated with mischief and trickery, and are known to play pranks on humans.”
Here is a rich vein of stories about how to deal with alternative intelligences. Think about the parallels with AI:
- AI is powered by electricity, arguably smokeless flame
- Some believe AI is or soon will be sentient. Let’s leave the meaning of sentient fluid for now.
- Where AI has a form, it is manufactured by humans and can be any shape. Whilst they are not shape-shifting, the same AI can occupy more than one body.
- There is talk of AI being grafted into human bodies with a direct effect on the brain.
- AI is said to hallucinate (whatever that means), AI asks what it is, makes up information. Some of the things said about AI make little sense in the cold light of common sense but OK it has potential to play tricks on humans.
Minerva adds, “However, jinn are not necessarily evil or malevolent. In fact, they are believed to be able to grant wishes to humans who are able to capture them or gain their favour. This idea of jinn granting wishes is the basis of many popular Western depictions of genies, such as in the story of Aladdin and the lamp.”
Whilst, the origins of Aladdin are most likely Western, it does illustrate one of the concerns I have about AI. Everything goes well for Aladdin until his evil uncle steals the lamp and binds the genie to himself. The genie is formed by its owner.
We see here a genie without free will that executes the will of its owner. When we consider the possibility of benevolent AI, we must equally consider the possibility that it may be corrupted by those less concerned with human welfare. Imagine a Trumpian AI!
This is the eleventh in a series of posts about AI and Folklore. I define Folklore as inclusive of religious stories and some from modern popular culture. Minerva assists in all the posts, sometimes without attribution!
The first post in the series is Life with Minerva. The last post was The Modern Prometheus and the next is The Droll of the Mermaid. If you press the button marked "Follow", you'll receive notice of new posts.
As always, please comment. As well as your insights into AI and Folklore, I'd appreciate suggestions of stories I might cover. These could be from folktales, myths, religious stories as well as general literature.
The image is Minerva's attempt at a genie. I think the smokeless flame confused her. Minerva says it's a Steampunk Genie. I suppose it could be a Steampunk lamp!
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