The problem is that these techno-feudalists don’t understand the tech themselves.

They have fed themselves the same lies and now believe in it. Worse, is that since these LLMs are commodities, that means they will always appease even at the expense of safety.

The technology is the Mirror Mirror On The Wall from Snow White, but lobotmised. The Mirror almost always spoke the truth, but these LLMs don’t.

It’s an audio issue. That never happened in thr early 2000s such as in Lord of the Rings which is weird when you think about the things that have regressed.

If My Immortal can be literally immortalised. So can you.

This is something I realised growing. Information and actual knowledge are two separate things.

The former is withour filter and the latter is under scrutiny for proper verification. In the hands of layman, it can be impossible to properly determine.

The current LLM mania is just an extension of that ‘validation through evidence’ that has been on-going.

JARVIS, where are we keeping SHODAN?

Freedom doesn’t come with intelligence, morals or ethics, only consequences.

Real.

Where’s my Cobra Industries?

What about my Brotherhood of Nod?

Shoot, give me Neo-Contra, dammit.

At this rate, I may as well use these names me self and make them the good guys.

The Black Plague was first recorded 1330s in China long before it began its migration to the West. However, you were right in the aspect that China in general had a strong administrative and bureaucratic base which allows coordinating disaster relief efforts.

Plus, the advantage of having rice means they could afford to feed citizenry very well in most cases.

Also, China as we know it today didn’t exactly exist, but it’s better to understand and obeserve the various polities that came and went during the centuries. Each would have different circumstances and administrative power in combating disasters as they happened.

I reckon more than a few people there would be incentivised to play catch up and start avery fast paced industrial revolution.

Certain advancements were only enabled because of catastrophe and that the surviving population rebounded. Had Old World diseases not struck the New World, I reckon a plague would’ve hit at some point anyhow.

Corporate Serfs is the word you may be looking for

Kleptocracy in motion. That’s what it is.

And depending on who you ask, most keep an eyepatch and pirate hat always on standby for these kind of things.

Many are going to get put off by the inevitable 2000 dollar price tag and decide to build a half decent old PC rig for pirate games.

Today it’s games and movies. Tomorrow it’s something actually important and they’ll rent us an apology for a terminal illness and nothing else.

Where’s the bisexual badass who comes in to save the day?