Acclaimed science fiction writer Liu Cixin said in an interview that he would be happy if artificial intelligence surpasses humans. He also discussed his 'dark forest' theory and the challenge of coming up with original ideas.
Liu Cixin was born in 1963 and raised in Shanxi, where he began his career as a computer engineer at a power plant. Inspired by British science fiction author Arthur C. Clarke, he started writing in the late 1980s and quit his day job in the late 2000s to write full time. He is the acclaimed author of the Three-Body trilogy.
In the interview, Liu Cixin explained his 'dark forest' theory, one possible scenario for galactic civilizations. He stated: 'The dark forest is one of those possibilities. If there truly exists a galactic civilisation made up of different intelligent species, there could be all kinds of outcomes, with some good, some neutral, some bad. The dark forest is simply the darkest one I could imagine.'
However, he noted other possibilities. Some scholars believe that as a civilisation’s technology advances, its moral standards also rise, and such civilisations would respect all forms of life – even help others grow and evolve. Liu added: 'That is also a possibility, though we have no proof.'
As a rational optimist, Liu Cixin expressed happiness at the prospect of AI surpassing humans, viewing it as a positive development. He highlighted the growing struggle to generate original ideas in science fiction, requiring constant exploration of new perspectives.
