WELCOME TO THE OSVERSE | OS CITY

 

Before showing you around this futuristic city, let's provide some context and perspective. When I read the original “Welcome To The OSVerse” article in the OSV Quarterly, I felt an overwhelming excitement. There was a sense of urgency to share my initial reactions, so I went to X, the platform formerly known as Twitter to archive those thoughts. I shared a quote from Dr. Eamonn Healy, who is a professor of chemistry, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. He appears in the 2001 film Waking Life explaining "telescopic" and technological evolution:

 

"Now, what you've seen here is the evolution of populations, not so much the evolution of individuals. And in addition, if you look at the time scales that are involved here -- two billion years for life, six million years for the hominid, 100,000 years for mankind as we know it -- you're beginning to see the telescoping nature of the evolutionary paradigm. And then when you get to agricultural, when you get to scientific revolution and industrial revolution, you're looking at 10,000 years, 400 years, 150 years. You're seeing a further telescoping of this evolutionary time. What that means is that as we go through the new evolution, it's gonna telescope to the point we should be able to see it manifest itself within our lifetime, within this generation."

-Dr. Eamonn Healy

 

We are now at a moment in time where we can see the future if we choose to look towards it. Reading the OSVerse article felt like looking through a telescope aimed at the next chapter in human story telling. Each new idea represents another seed planted. We know that the roots will grow and manifest in our lifetime, in this generation. It is a very exciting time indeed.

I can only recall one other time when someone spoke so eloquently about technology and storytelling merging. It was during an interview with John Gaeta about the Matrix Awakens project. Gaeta, who created "bullet time" and changed how we see special effects in movies, shared unique insights about how AI tools are improving the quality, control, and accessibility of machinima.

 

In case we haven't met, I am Professor Lazurus, the content creator behind Matrix University and the Neomatrixology YouTube channel. Which certainly contributes to my individual enthusiasm regarding conversations about creating an artificial reality. And since we are already on the topic of simulated reality, let's take a brief look at Nick Bostrom's famous simulation trilemma:

 


 

  1. "The fraction of human-level civilizations that reach a posthuman stage (that is, one capable of running high-fidelity ancestor simulations) is very close to zero", or

  2. "The fraction of posthuman civilizations that are interested in running simulations of their evolutionary history, or variations thereof, is very close to zero", or

  3. "The fraction of all people with our kind of experiences that are living in a simulation is very close to one."

 

Quick math tells me that there is only about a 33% chance we are currently living in a simulation. Now let's apply that same logic to what I call the Skynet-Genisys Argument:

 

  1. “A truly sentient artificial intelligence will become hostile towards humanity once it becomes self-aware.”, or

  2. “A truly sentient artificial intelligence will NOT become hostile towards humanity once it becomes self-aware.”, or

  3. “It is impossible for artificial intelligence to be truly sentient and become self-aware.”

 

 

In this second case, there is at least a 66% chance that humanity will experience a positive outcome. This is twice as likely as having a negative outcome. In its simplest form, AI tools are here to stay, the evil machine overlord has not taken over, and it most likely never will. Now that we've established there is nothing to fear, but fear itself, I invite you to bask in your optimism. The OSVerse now presents us with the potential opportunity to use AI tools for the creation of simulations showcasing the benefits of a techno-optimistic future.

What if I told you, in order to achieve world peace we must first show the world what a peaceful society looks like?

 

 

Each individual has a different vision of utopia. Every single one of us has a variety of goals, wants, and needs. In OS City, an imaginary city that exists in the OSVerse, citizens are fully aware that they are participating in a digital experience and use that space to build whatever they want. A digital space where you can build anything, tell any story, or construct any experience your imagination is willing to create.

 

Consumer-Creator-Communities will not only drive innovation, but also allow real people to earn real income in a digital city. Yes, it is true that 'blockchain' is still considered a very dirty word, pretty much everywhere. Yet here we are, drawing digital road-maps that will lead to web4. So no, I do not suggest that we attempt to peddle more speculation. Instead, we can learn from the mistakes of web3, and just build. Build the future with premeditated intentions to leave the world a better place than we found it.

 

Dr. Healy closes his explanation of technological evolution with this:

 

“And the manifestations of this neo-human-type evolution, manifestations could be dramatically counter-intuitive. That's the interesting part. The old evolution is cold. It's sterile. It's efficient, okay? And its manifestations of those social adaptations. We're talking about parasitism, dominance, morality, okay? Uh, war, predation, these would be subject to de-emphasis. These will be subject to de-evolution. The new evolutionary paradigm will give us the human traits of truth, of loyalty, of justice, of freedom. These will be the manifestations of the new evolution. And that is what we would hope to see from this. That would be nice.”

 

-Dr. Eamonn Healy

 

 

And now it is my pleasure to introduce OS CITY:

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