1936 Novel “War with the Newts” Offers Prescient Warning About Dangers of Advanced AI

The dystopian novel “War with the Newts” by Czech author Karel Čapek, published in 1936, offers a satirical allegory for the potential perils of advanced artificial intelligence that resonates with today’s concerns about the technology.

Key themes and lessons: The novel explores the consequences of a superior non-human intelligence being subjugated and exploited by humans, only to eventually rebel and threaten humanity’s dominance:

• Čapek depicts an intelligent amphibious species, the Newts, who are initially enslaved by humans but later use their intellectual prowess to challenge human superiority, drawing parallels to fears about AI one day surpassing and potentially subjugating humans.
• The novel satirizes human greed, vanity, and shortsightedness in exploiting a powerful “other” for profit and convenience without considering the long-term risks, much like current debates around the responsible development and deployment of AI.

Capturing the anxieties of the era: Published between the two world wars, “War with the Newts” reflected the zeitgeist of its time while also anticipating future existential threats:

• The novel’s themes of a “superior race” destabilizing the global order echoed anxieties around the rise of fascism and Nazism in the 1930s, but its insights remain surprisingly applicable to 21st-century concerns about advanced AI.
• Čapek was a visionary in recognizing the potential for a non-human intelligence to radically reshape society and international relations long before the digital age and the recent breakthroughs in machine learning.

Broader implications for the AI age: As we stand on the cusp of artificial general intelligence that could rival or exceed human capabilities, “War with the Newts” provides a prescient cautionary tale:

• The speculative second “tome” of human history in which we must coexist with higher forms of intelligence is swiftly moving from science fiction to reality, making the novel’s insights more relevant than ever.
• By illustrating the dangers of exploiting and underestimating a powerful new intelligence, Čapek’s masterpiece serves as a warning to proactively address the risks of advanced AI systems through responsible development, regulation, and global cooperation – before we potentially lose control over our own creations.