There does seem to be an issue where even the owner of the AI, commanding it to hack, has no responsibility when the AI hacks. The oligarchs of loving grace are too important for accountability.

hot-air balloons before plastics were often made of silk (and rubber), since most other materials are either too heavy (at least for practical purposes) or too thermally sensitive, and that’s an expensive experiment to be undertaking if you haven’t the first clue how it works.

I have no idea how old “Chinese lanterns” (small hot air balloon carrying a candle) are, but I assume very old. Concept behind hot air balloon understood. and the most basic imagination would understand the scaling potential. That they also dominated silk supply would require a different explanation for why human basket sized balloons took so long to develop.