I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

This book by Harlan Ellison came up once on Lex Fridman in the episodes we index. That mention was a genuine on-air recommendation, not just a passing reference. The people who brought it up: Grimes. Every occurrence below links to the episode page and to the exact second it was said on YouTube.

This is a story set in a post-apocalyptic future. The Cold War progressed until it was too complicated for humans to manage, so the three major superpowers each developed a computer program to help run the war. When one of the programs becomes sentient it eliminates all of the human race except five persons, which it tortures for eternity.