NZ Sheep Farmer Predicted AI Doom 161 Years Ago

In 1863, New Zealand sheep farmer Samuel Butler penned a letter predicting a future where AI could dominate humanity. Drawing parallels between the rapid advancement of machinery and Darwinian evolution, he envisioned machines evolving consciousness and supplanting humans as Earth's dominant species. His concerns, including machine consciousness, self-replication, and humanity losing control of its creations, resonate in later works like Asimov's *The Evitable Conflict* and *The Matrix*. Butler's prescient warnings, made in a time with almost no computing technology, highlight enduring anxieties about AI safety and strikingly mirror current concerns about advanced AI's potential risks.