Science Fiction Tried to Warn Us about AI. Or Did It?, by Tom Gammarino Essay [email protected] Wed, 03/01/2023 - 03:46 Photo by NASA / Unsplash “All our AI Frankenstein stories,” the author writes, “warn us that AI will destroy us, but far louder than that, they promise that the future is going to be mind-blowing and epic.” Will we heed the warnings? Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein is the literary work that most clearly established the conventions of science fiction as we know it. Not only did the 1818 novel pioneer the archetype of the mad scientist, it also established one of the genre’s most important cultural roles: to warn us about ways humans, through our hubris, might create the very beings that eventually undo us. In subtitling the novel The Modern Prometheus, Shelley harked back to the Titan who stole fire from the gods and was punished by having his regenerating liver devoured every day by an eagle (since the liver was the seat of the emotions for the Greeks, we might as well translate it as “heart”). Inspired by the experiments of Luigi Galvani, who used electric current to stimulate the leg of a dissected frog, and his nephew Giovanni Aldini, who ran a similar experiment on a hanged criminal, Shelley had her mad scientist play God by endowing a patchwork of human remains with the spark of life. Two centuries later, the resulting monstrosity serves as a stand-in for any of our runaway technologies — the internal... Continue reading at 'World Literature Today'
[ World Literature Today | 2023-03-01 09:46:57 UTC ]
For 33 years, Galaxy Press has been promoting the work of science fiction and fantasy writers and illustrators through the annual L. Ron Hubbard Writers and Illustrators of the Future contests. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-06-02 00:00:00 UTC ]
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BookNet Canada has issued four studies looking at the demographics for book buyers of biographies/autobiographies, detective fiction, science fiction and cookbooks, each showing trends for the genre. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-05-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Michael M. Levy, a scholar of science fiction and longtime 'Publishers Weekly' reviewer, died of cancer on April 3. He was 66. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2017-04-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Hodder and Stoughton has appointed Sam Bradbury, currently with Jo Fletcher Books, as editor with commissioning responsibilities in the area of science fiction, fantasy and horror, reporting to publisher Oliver Johnson. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2017-03-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Better times are ahead, says writer Ahmed Khaled Towfik, who recently appeared at Dubai’s festival: the Arab world is readier for science fiction, he says. By Dennis Abrams | @DennisAbrams2 ‘Looking Good for Science Fiction’ t The National, Hala Khalaf asserts that “Arab readers don’t like... Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2017-03-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A fuel-free engine is the stuff of science fiction for now, but scientists at NASA Eagleworks have published a peer-reviewed paper that suggests the ideas behind an EM Drive are worth testing further. Researchers at Eagleworks, a small NASA team task... Continue reading at Engadget
[ Engadget | 2016-11-22 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Science fiction and fantasy novelist China Miéville is to make a rare foray into non-fiction to pen a “labour of love” history of the Russian revolution for indie press Verso. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-10-21 00:00:00 UTC ]
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As writers learn that tech giant has processed their work without permission, the Authors Guild condemns ‘blatantly commercial use of expressive authorship’When the writer Rebecca Forster first heard how Google was using her work, it felt like she was trapped in a science fiction novel. “Is this... Continue reading at The Guardian
[ The Guardian | 2016-09-28 00:00:00 UTC ]
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British writer Adrian Tchaikovsky has won the Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction for his novel Children of Time (Pan Macmillan). Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-26 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Neil Gaiman and N K Jemisin were among the authors announced as winners at the 2016 Hugo Awards for science fiction. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-08-23 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A driverless air taxi to carry you over traffic in congested urban centers, ordered at the push of a button from your smartphone, may sound like science fiction, but Airbus believes it’s much closer to reality than you think. So close, in fact, that it hopes to test such a vehicle by the end of... Continue reading at Silicon Valley Business Journal
[ Silicon Valley Business Journal | 2016-08-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The author took to Twitter today to give an explanation for how to increase diversity in science fiction. It starts with publishing more writers of color. The post N.K. Jemisin Has a Plan for Diversity in Science Fiction appeared first on WIRED. Continue reading at Wired
[ Wired | 2016-08-11 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gollancz, Orion's science fiction and fantasy imprint, is partnering with Foyles for the Gollancz Festival 2016. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-07-13 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The Easthampton, Mass., press is preparing to release an English language edition of what it is calling the world's first science fiction novel, 'The Chemical Wedding,' written in German in 1616. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-17 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The editors of the publication’s culture section have selected N.K. Jemisin’s 'The Fifth Season' as the first title to be read in the new group, which will focus on works of science fiction and fantasy. Continue reading at Publishers Weekly
[ Publishers Weekly | 2016-05-05 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Iain Pears’ Arcadia (Faber & Faber), a story that can be read either as a print book or an app, is in contention for this year’s Arthur C Clarke award for science fiction, along with novels by authors such as Becky Chambers and Nnedi Okorafor. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2016-04-29 00:00:00 UTC ]
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It's more than fitting that the first posthumous video for a David Bowie song would depict a psychedelic shot through the cosmos. "I Can't Give Everything Away," a standout track from his final album, "Blackstar," gets a gentle lyric video that recalls vintage animation and science fiction, and... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-04-07 00:00:00 UTC ]
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A show about the boundary-pushing art of radical Latin American women and another devoted to the science fiction of the Americas are just two of 43 exhibitions and events receiving $8.5 million in grants from the Getty Foundation as part of Pacific Standard Time: Los Angeles/Latin America,... Continue reading at Los Angeles Times
[ Los Angeles Times | 2016-03-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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The January 2016 selection of reviews from BlueInk Review includes a science fiction novel set in space and a children's picture book about families. The post January 2016: Top Reviews of Self-Published Books from BlueInk Review appeared first on Publishing Perspectives. Continue reading at Publishing Perspectives
[ Publishing Perspectives | 2016-01-08 00:00:00 UTC ]
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Gollancz is set to publish a sequel to H G Wells’ science fiction novel The War of the Worlds, written by Stephen Baxter. Continue reading at The Bookseller
[ The Bookseller | 2015-12-03 00:00:00 UTC ]
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