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LETTER: AI Utopia and Universe 25: advances in technology may not be aligned with future advances in the human condition

In the early 1970s, ethologist John B. Calhoun conducted a unique experiment with a population of mice. He created a vast, temperature-controlled enclosure with unlimited food, water and nesting space. There were no predators, diseases, or scarcities of any kind. He called it Universe 25 and by every conventional measure, it was a mouse utopia.

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Beginning with just four healthy pairs, the numbers quickly exploded — doubling every 55 days. However, in just a few short years they would all perish. Many people interpreted the outcome as the obvious result of overpopulation. Others pointed to the dangers associated with excess comfort. But, in the end, Calhoun came to a very different and startling conclusion.

In recent years Big Tech have openly discussed the eventual creation of a human utopia. They believe........

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