Although Lovelock is more optimistic than many AI critics, he does not ignore dangers. He is explicitly hostile to autonomous lethal weapons and fearful of crude military uses of AI that could destabilise both human society and Gaia.
Critics of *Novacene* have pushed back on several points. - Some argue that it is naive to assume hyperintelligence will naturally be benevolent or aligned with Gaia. - Others question whether electronic life really needs a narrow temperate range, suggesting that very different hardware could thrive in conditions fatal to current organisms. - Philosophers and reviewers have also challenged Lovelock’s downplaying of human agency and his confident speculation about future epochs.
From a Gaia perspective, the deeper question is whether any technological civilisation, human or electronic, can truly remain within the safe operational space of the Earth system once it has the power to re-engineer the planet.