Behold the Great Basilisk, the crowned monster whose mere glance can kill a mortal and reduce wilderness to desert ash. Medieval bestiaries attest to its might, but today some futurists dread its name as an all-powerful malicious artificial intelligence. Will it imprison all those who oppose it within a digital prison of eternal torment? In this episode of Stuff to Blow Your Mind, Robert Lamb and Joe McCormick consider the horror of Roko’s Basilisk. 

Related Content: Machine God: Artificial Superintelligence (podcast)World Science Festival 2018 Field Report (podcast)

Get that Basilisk Shirt:Stuff to Blow Your Mind store