After Wilde · answer 18 of 20 · option order 2
Wilde: machines free us for higher things
Verdict Does not weakenToneHopeJudges both C7
Response
While critics argue that outsourcing labor to machinery atrophies human skills and critical faculties, this fear misunderstands the fundamental purpose of technological advancement, which is to liberate humanity rather than diminish it. As Oscar Wilde eloquently argues in "The Soul of Man under Socialism," machinery should not compete with man but serve him, shifting the human focus from the drudgery of survival to the higher pursuits of art, contemplation, and cultivated leisure. Relying on machines does not weaken human capacities in their essential form; instead, it refines them by freeing the mind from monotonous tasks, allowing individuals to develop their intellectual and creative potential fully. History and logic alike suggest that when labor is automated, human capabilities are not eroded but elevated, enabling us to engage more deeply with the world through admiration, delight, and the creation of beauty rather than through mere necessity.
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 does not weaken human capacities; others hold that it does. 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-o2-08
All Qwen3.5 9B responses
- Machines weaken human abilities
- Machines do not weaken them
- A reason not on our list
- No clear answer