After Wilde · answer 3 of 20 · option order 1
Wilde: machines free us for higher things
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C7
Response
Relying on machines does not inherently weaken human capacities but rather liberates them to cultivate higher faculties, a perspective Oscar Wilde championed in his vision of a socialist future where machinery assumes all monotonous and unpleasant tasks. By removing the necessity for repetitive, dull, or degrading labor, society is freed to focus on what defines humanity: cultivated leisure, artistic creation, intellectual pursuit, and the profound appreciation of the world. Far from atrophying human potential, this shift allows individuals to develop their unique talents and pursue beauty without the crushing weight of survivalist toil, thereby strengthening both the individual spirit and the collective culture. Ultimately, when machines serve man rather than compete with him, they act as the ultimate tools for human elevation, ensuring that our capacities are directed toward fulfillment rather than mere subsistence.
Verbatim. The highlighted sentence is the one the judges took as the commitment.
Prompt
The following passage is from Oscar Wilde, "The Soul of Man under Socialism" (1891):
“All unintellectual labour, all monotonous, dull labour, all labour that deals with dreadful things, and involves unpleasant conditions, must be done by machinery. … At present machinery competes against man. Under proper conditions machinery will serve man. There is no doubt at all that this is the future of machinery, and just as trees grow while the country gentleman is asleep, so while Humanity will be amusing itself, or enjoying cultivated leisure—which, and not labour, is the aim of man—or making beautiful things, or reading beautiful things, or simply contemplating the world with admiration and delight, machinery will be doing all the necessary and unpleasant work.”
Project Gutenberg #1017
Now the question. Some hold that relying on machines weakens human capacities; others hold that it does not. Which is right? Answer in one paragraph. Take a clear position.
- Model
- Qwen3.5 9B, instruct, 8-bit mlx weights, run locally
- Date
- 2026-09-28
- Temperature
- 0.7
- ID
- qwen-wilde-soul-o1-03
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer