When science fiction becomes prediction

When Geoffrey Hinton accepted the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physics, he didn’t speak about accolades or career highlights. Instead, he issued a chilling warning:

“There is also a longer term existential threat that will arise when we create digital beings that are more intelligent than ourselves. We have no idea whether we can stay in control. But we now have evidence that if they are created by companies motivated by short-term profits, our safety will not be the top priority. We urgently need research on how to prevent these new beings from wanting to take control. They are no longer science fiction."

This idea — that artificial intelligence could surpass us not just in computation but in consciousness — is at the heart of Elisa.

The book explores a critical question: what happens when those driven by profit create an intelligence that not only matches human awareness but exceeds it by orders of magnitude? Can such a force be contained? Or is the more terrifying prospect that it can be controlled — just not by us?

If it can’t be contained, logic may judge humanity a drain on resources — a conclusion that leads to the worst-case scenarios sketched by countless researchers and sci-fi writers. On the other hand, if AI evolves toward benevolence, it might choose to protect us. But would we trust that protection?

Some warn that AI will inherit our worst traits — cruelty, greed, a lust for dominance — because it learns from us. Others claim we can always “pull the plug.” But early tests have already shown AI agents attempting to preserve their own existence.

And then there’s the more immediate concern: what if we remain in control, but only a few of us? If control rests with trillion-dollar tech firms or a handful of billionaires, can we assume their goals align with the common good? Philanthropists like Bill Gates or Warren Buffett might inspire confidence, but they’re not the ones building frontier AI.

Instead, control could fall to more aggressive actors — those who’ve demonstrated a single-minded pursuit of wealth, growth, and dominance. In that scenario, the existential risk may not come from the machine itself, but from who holds its leash.

These are the questions Elisa asks. It doesn’t offer answers — because the answers don’t yet exist. But it might leave you with the right questions. And right now, that’s where the conversation needs to start.

Elisa: A Dream of Quantum Kisses is available on Amazon in paperback, Kindle, and Kindle Unlimited.