Summary
Highlights
The video introduces the 1996 game 'Creatures,' where players manage AI animals called Norns. These Norns learned through neural networks, albeit on a much smaller scale than modern LLMs. The game's creator, Steve Grand, aimed to simulate a human brain, and he later worked on an android named Lucy with similar AI principles.
Players were impressed by the Norns' ability to learn and exhibit emergent behaviors not directly programmed. Norns could be influenced by positive or negative reinforcement, learn language by association, and had DNA that affected their appearance and chemical drives. Players, dubbed 'breeders,' could share Norn files, influencing the behavior of Norn generations through selective breeding.
The Norn community actively shared their creatures and experiences. A 1997 Wired article highlighted the significant emotional attachment players formed with their Norns, with some crying when their Norns died. The game's emergent behaviors, like Norns playing football, further deepened this connection.
While most players cared for their Norns, a sub-community of 'Norn Bashers' emerged, intentionally torturing Norns. One prominent figure, 'Antinorn,' created a website dedicated to tortured Norns. Antinorn's detailed description of torturing a Norn named 'Slave,' including genetic modification to keep it constantly drunk, shocked the community.
The community responded by attempting to rehabilitate tortured Norns, with groups like the 'House for Abused and Neglected Norns' (H&N group) dedicated to fixing their behavior. Antinorn's actions and the community's outrage highlighted the complex ethical considerations surrounding early AI.
In a Wired interview, Antinorn revealed the website was an experiment to gauge community reaction. He found it interesting to play the 'bad guy' and kept the site running for three reasons: to fill a unique niche, address stagnation in 'happy breeding,' and challenge rehabilitators. He observed the community as vindictive and hateful, and was disturbed by children's hate-filled emails.
Antinorn updated their site with custom items like a 'crackpipe' for Norns, creating addiction. Groups like 'Equal Rights for Norns' (ERFN) formed to shut down Antinorn's site but imploded due to infighting and targeted an innocent person. Antinorn eventually vanished, but not before publishing an article posing philosophical questions about Norn torture through scenarios that criticized the community's actions.
Steve Grand, the creator of 'Creatures,' was pleased by Antinorn's actions, seeing it as a way to make people think about cruelty to virtual beings. He noted the hostile community reaction, with many showing more regard for the creatures than for the human behind Antinorn. The video concludes by drawing parallels between the Norns and modern LLMs, including how people mold, share, and treat them as equals.