Public debate about AI is dominated by Frankenstein Syndrome, the fear that AI will become superhuman and escape human control. Though superintelligence is theoretically possible, it distracts from a more pressing problem: the rise of Artificial Stupidity (AS). This article discusses the cultural roots of Frankenstein Syndrome, and provides a conceptual framework for evaluating the stupidity of artificial agents. It then identifies an alternative literary tradition that exposes the perils and benefits of AS. In the writings of Edmund Spenser, Jonathan Swift and E.T.A. Hoffmann, ASs replace, enslave or delude their human users. More optimistically, Joseph Furphy and Laurence Sterne imagine ASs that can augment human intelligence by serving as maps or as pipes. These writers provide a strong counternarrative to the myths that currently drive the AI debate. They identify ways even stupid agents can thwart human aims, and demonstrate the social and scientific value of literary texts.
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