It's easy to miss, but it's been referenced many times on HN over the years, both as stories:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

and fairly often in comments as well:

https://hn.algolia.com/?dateRange=all&page=0&prefix=true&que...

? It’s referenced all the time in posts about AI.

It's a reference to a short story "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream"

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_Have_No_Mouth,_and_I_Must_Sc...

And then there's "I Have no Grass, and I Must Mow" by Larry Ellison.

You got me with that lure.

There is also an old point-and-click adventure game based on the story, in case you didn't know.

It’s referenced a lot as the inspiration for The Amazing Digital Circus.

Really? I’m surprised. The original is quoted relatively often on reddit (I suspect by people unaware of the origin — as I was until I read your comment).

Consider it proof that HN has indeed not become reddit, I guess :)

There's literally several of us that like that Harlan Ellison piece. Check out the video/adventure game of the same name, though it's very old.

I've heard good things about the game, never got around to trying it. Maybe I take this as a prompt to do now.

I gave it a try a couple of months ago, but didn't get very far before getting bored. However, I tend to dismiss games unless they grab me within a couple of minutes of playing.

Maybe I should give it another go as I do love the short story and it used to be my favourite before discovering Ted Chiang's work.