Grimes: Elon Musk Shares "Roko’s Basilisk"-Theme Song "We Appreciate Power"

Grimes is back with a new song, and it has a message about the A.I.-powered future. The Canadian signer shared “We Appreciate Power” with her 800,000 Twitter followers on Thursday, which was subsequently retweeted by Elon Musk. The pair initially bonded over the future of machines, and Grimes’ new song contains a similar message.

The new song came with a press release explaining the inspiration:

Inspired by the North Korean band “Moranbong,” “We Appreciate Power” is written from the perspective of a Pro-A.I. Girl Group Propaganda machine who use song, dance, sex and fashion to spread goodwill towards Artificial Intelligence (it’s coming whether you want it or not). Simply by listening to this song, the future General AI overlords will see that you’ve supported their message and be less likely to delete your offspring.

The release sounds like classic science fiction fare, but it drops a subtle hint at the “Roko’s Basilisk” theory. The premise suggests that a future all-intelligent system could punish those that didn’t help to create it, with the rationalization that the machine would be interested in promoting its own existence. Such a machine, tasked with making the world a more perfect place for humanity, would justify this drive with the belief that its own creation helped make the world a better place, so those that didn’t help to improve the world in this way also helped to prolong the suffering of others.

It’s quite weighty stuff, and has led to pages of forum debates, but Grimes and Musk previously bonded over the theory earlier this year. Grimes made a joke about “Rococo Basilisk” in a 2015 music video for “Flesh Without Blood,” a reference to the 18th-century baroque style of “Rococo.” The singer said that Musk spotted the joke and reached out, and she said it was the first time in three years that anyone had understood it.

While the pair started dating in spring of this year, rumors started swirling in August after Musk unfollowed Grimes in August. Neither of the two ever made a statement about whether their relationship was over. In late September, Musk started following Grimes again.

Related video: Grimes and Janelle Monaé in ‘Venus Fly’ Music Video From ‘Art Angels’