How to Beat an AI at Its Own Game
In Joanna Kavenna’s novel Seven , a board game exposes the high-stakes conflict between humans and AI.
Why play a game that has no rules? Humans may find the concept perplexing, but the author of "Seven" invites us to explore this notion through an invented board game called Seven. Created by an Icelandic philosopher named Alda Jónsdóttir, the game's rules are flexible and its objective is to "think outside the box." The novel follows a nameless research assistant as they embark on a quest to find a Seven enthusiast named Theódoros Apostolakis in Greece.
Along the way, they participate in various Seven competitions with changing rules. The assistant's experiences in the game mirror real-world concerns about artificial intelligence (AI) and its potential to outperform humans in creative and intellectual endeavors. As the story unfolds, the assistant encounters an AI program called the Quail, designed specifically to play Seven.
The Quail's victory over the world's top Seven player, Ashok Deo, highlights the growing capabilities of AI and the fear that machines may soon surpass human creativity and consciousness. Kavenna's novel serves as a reminder that play and irrationality are essential aspects of what makes humans unique, and that even as AI advances, there remains a crucial distinction between human and machine.
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