[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=35510021]

Some related pop sci-fi: in the game Deus Ex they call it “Daedalus”. A super intelligent AI that evolved to replace government. The main character has an encounter with the prototype (called Morpheus) and it just drops some fascinating dialogue for a game released more than 20 years ago.

“The need to be observed and understood was once satisfied by God. Now we can implement the same functionality with data-mining algorithms.”

“The human organism always worships. First it was the gods, then it was fame (the observation and judgment of others), next it will be the self-aware systems you have built to realize truly omnipresent observation and judgment.”

“The individual desires judgment. Without that desire, the cohesion of groups is impossible, and so is civilization.”

“The human being created civilization not because of a willingness but because of a need to be assimilated into higher orders of structure and meaning.”

“God was a dream of good government.”