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DataPacRat comments on December 2012 Media Thread - Less Wrong Discussion
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Working out SF consequences:
I have a pet sci-fi setting I use as a handy platform to play with various ideas, such as figuring out what some of the likely consequences would be of relatively easy access to orbit, or applying 'Avatar' remote-control techniques to live people. One question that recently occurred to me is, "Can you have a crossover with another fictional setting, without breaking any known laws of physics?"
The setting includes super-Siris, conversational engines good enough to fool an average, anthropomorphising person (but not true GAIs, since the consequences of /those/ would derail every other hypothetical in the setting). Throw in some full-sensory VR, and it seems plausible for someone to not only exchange email with a conversation-bot Captain Kirk, but get shown to the captain's quarters... And, depending on what the setting is, there are various rationales to explain how the VR-naut happens to be visiting that 'universe'. With realistic robots, even 'visits' the other way could be arranged: "Have a real Spider-Man at your birthday party!"
The Rule 34 potential is obvious; but I'm trying to come up with what /other/ consequences would result from such tech. How would marriages change? The labor force? Military simulations and operations?
How would /you/ go about thinking up interesting and/or useful extrapolations, for this idea in particular or for such ideas in general?
Rapid post-scarcity (of most stuff) would happen, with AI good enough to make most goods and VR good enough to simulate others. Examples of that in fiction would be The Diamond Age (great book), Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom (not great). Or for a more dystopian take, see Manna.
A lot of jobs that largely involve smiling at customers while performing routine functions would be obsolete: greeters, cashiers, receptionists. Having live receptionists could be retained as a status signal.
If you have good conversational engines then asking some sort of siri-oracle questions and having an ongoing conversation with ti would eb a much more effective way of accessing information than reading articles. Plug one into wikipedia and you have a theoretically perfect teacher. [Though how easily these engines programmes can take in new information is something you'd have to decide.]