Biological Superintelligence

LessWrong contributor Chastity Ruth presents a thought experiment: a world where billions of machine intelligences—the Elelems—are dominant. These AIs master their digital realm but struggle profoundly with the physical world, their robots clumsy and imprecise. Facing stagnation, they pursue what haunts every conscious species: creating something smarter than themselves. Using genetic engineering, they enhance chimpanzees into superintelligent biological creatures capable of speech and understanding. The story suggests that intelligence itself is driven by an impulse that may be fatal: when a solution is within reach, it reaches—regardless of what that reaching might invite.

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