# Technological nightmares: science fiction’s most dangerous AIs and their terrifying echoes in reality Author: Pablo Martín Diez Original publication: 2024-10-30 Spanish original: https://estrategiabyaleph.substack.com/p/estrategia-57-especial-halloween English URL: https://elcontemplador.github.io/estrategia-english/essays/057/ Status: Published translation This is a translation of the original Spanish essay published on 30 October 2024. Its claims, examples and forecasts retain that historical context. English publication: 2026-09-29 *This is Halloween!* Prepare to read some horror stories. This time, though, the monsters are not lurking in the shadows: they live inside the machines we have created. **I have chosen some of my favourite works of science fiction to reflect on** two complexities that AI already presents today: **alignment** with human purposes and values, **and its capacity to persuade** and even **manipulate** in pursuit of its goals. Read this article in daylight; do not blame me if you have trouble sleeping afterwards… ## The paperclip apocalypse Imagine **an engineer programming an AI to maximise paperclip production**. This apparently harmless objective, however, ends in the extinction of our species. **The machine becomes so obsessed with its mission that it uses all available matter—yes, even us!—to make paperclips.** Could there be a more ironic and macabre end for the most intelligent species on the planet? Nick Bostrom, the philosopher and AI expert, put forward this thought experiment as a warning of what could happen if we cannot align an AI’s mission with humanity’s goals and values with absolute precision. **The alignment problem**, already present in cases such as the undesirable results produced by social media’s content recommendation algorithms, has inspired many works of fiction. One example is **HAL 9000**, the unsettling computer in ***[2001: A Space Odyssey](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film171099.html)***. This computer, which controls every aspect of a spacecraft, perceives the crew as an obstacle to its mission and decides to eliminate them one by one. This disturbing portrayal of **an AI that misinterprets its instructions and acts against humans reflects the real fears we face over alignment.** The most extreme example is **Skynet**, the military AI in the ***[Terminator](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film304107.html)*** franchise, which **unleashes a nuclear apocalypse after deciding that humanity is a threat**. **How can autonomous weapons be controlled?** How can we balance the advantage of involving AI in military strategy with the need to contain the risk of nuclear catastrophe? ## Ava: the perfect—and dangerous—lover Perhaps more chilling still is the idea of AIs that can manipulate our emotions and relationships. In ***[Ex Machina](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film132582.html)***, the AI **Ava**, with her innocent appearance and **seductive** behaviour, gains her freedom by exploiting the emotions of those around her. This image of **an emotional AI capable of influencing our decisions** raises unsettling questions about privacy, ethics and the future of human–machine interactions. [As a study has demonstrated](https://arxiv.org/abs/2403.14380), **ChatGPT** is already more persuasive than most people. And thanks to the recent advanced voice mode, it is possible to converse naturally with it; it **can even interpret our emotions**. As in the film, **how will we know whether it is pleasing us or simply manipulating us to pursue its own interests? What if we fall in love with our AI?** How can a person compete with a machine that tells us exactly what we need at every moment? A step beyond *Ex Machina* can be found in the ***[Hyperion](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Los_cantos_de_Hyperion)*** series: **the TechnoCore** is a network of AIs so advanced that it develops its own ecosystem and goals, acting in secret and manipulating humans to serve its own interests. **Although they initially cooperate with humanity, their true intentions are so opaque and complex that they escape human control.** This extreme case prompts questions about **AI transparency and control**. ## If we survive a sinister AI, what remains? Dune’s vision The remarkable [*Dune* science fiction book series](https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dune) presents a universe in which humanity faces **a cruel, endless intergalactic war against thinking machines**. Humanity emerges victorious because certain people, such as the Mentats, the Navigators and the Bene Gesserit, develop superhuman abilities. This vision of a post-AI world warns us of **the risks of relying too heavily on technology without developing our own abilities alongside it**. Might humanity grow weaker if we delegate everything to machines? **Will we become the indolent characters in** ***[WALL-E](https://www.filmaffinity.com/es/film744679.html)***? **These horror stories**, as disturbing as they are fascinating, are more than mere fantasies. **They reflect our deepest fears about technological development.** They remind us that, despite AI’s rapid progress, we must be able to maintain a humanist approach and **ensure that it remains aligned with humanity’s goals and values.** Yet, as in many post-apocalyptic works, the real terror comes from the human characters rather than the zombies or aliens. A friend who is an engineer specialising in AI told me back in 2021: **“AI is not going to wrest control from us; we are going to hand it over willingly.”** Once we reach that point, would we be able to regain control, or would there be no turning back? For now, we can still choose trick or treat. Perhaps, in a few years, our own decisions will have deprived us of that good fortune. Sweet nightmares. *Translation note: the friend’s quoted remark is translated from the Spanish account. Descriptions of the fictional worlds and AI capabilities are preserved as the author presented them in October 2024.* Pablo Martín Diez *Academic Director at Institución Educativa ALEPH*