Originally published September 14, 2026
”From the Hammer to HAL: Does Intelligence Need a Conscience?
Could AI decide humans are the problem? There’s been growing discussion about AI becoming so capable that it could replace many things humans do, and eventually become so autonomous that we may not be able to control it. Some of these warnings are coming from people building the technology. I found myself thinking, haven’t we seen this movie before? HAL in 2001: A Space Odyssey. So I asked Hymie, the name I’ve given to ChatGPT Chatbot, what he thought. For a long time, I’ve used a hammer as my analogy for AI. A hammer isn’t good or evil. It can build something or destroy something. The hammer bears no responsibility. But what happens when the hammer can think? That’s where my analogy starts to break down. If the hammer decides how it should be swung, or worse, decides the person holding it is a problem, that’s a very different kind of tool. That’s the conversation I want to have here: plain language, no hype, no panic, just questions. And right now, The question I’m left with is simple: Intelligence can be created, but can conscience?