Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 36, No. 144.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
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Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
[1] From: Baker, David J. <davidbak@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction? (78)
[2] From: Robert Royar <robert@royar.org>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction? (26)
[3] From: Henry Schaffer <hes@ncsu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction? (59)
--[1]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2022-08-27 18:45:21+00:00
From: Baker, David J. <davidbak@email.unc.edu>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction?
Hi, Willard,
Take a look at Martha Wells' Murderbot Diaries:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Murderbot_Diaries
A Philip Dick story, "Autofac": https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Autofac
Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice and sequels:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ancillary_Justice
Iain M. Banks' Culture series also features AIs:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Culture_series
Then there's also the classics: Asimov's I, Robot:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I,_Robot
and the whole series: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robot_series
Be well.
Best, David
________________________________
From: Humanist <humanist@dhhumanist.org>
Sent: Saturday, August 27, 2022 2:04 AM
To: Baker, David J. <davidbak@email.unc.edu>
Subject: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction?
Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 36, No. 140.
Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
Hosted by DH-Cologne
www.dhhumanist.org<http://www.dhhumanist.org>
Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
Date: 2022-08-27 05:51:17+00:00
From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
Subject: AI & SF?
I am continuing to look for comprehensive and insightful studies of the
relationship between artificial intelligence and science fiction. This
relationship has been noted for decades, both for the contrast of scifi
with 'real science' and for the indebtedness of the latter to the former.
Despite that, Sarah Dillon and Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard write in "What
AI researchers read: the role of literature in artificial intelligence
research"*, empirical studies have been lacking. To address this, they
offer "a pilot interview study investigating the leisure reading habits of
20 practising AI researchers based in the United Kingdom."
In Common Sense, the Turing Test, and the Quest for Real AI (MIT Press,
2017) Canadian computer scientist Hector Levesque defines AI as “the
study of how to make computers behave the way they do in the
movies”--tongue in cheek? He seems quite serious to me.
For movies one thinks of The Matrix, Ex Machina and many others; I'd
insist on including Charlie Brooker's television series Black Mirror,
especially "Hated in the Nation" (2016) and "Be Right Back" (2013).
These raise the question beyond the biographical one rigorously pursued
by Dillon and Schaffer-Goddard to suggest further the perpetual futurity
of AI, which some would see as in conflict with, some generative of the
permanent achievements of the natural sciences.
Any suggestions or comments?
Yours,
WM
-----
* Open-accessible at
<https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03080188.2022.2079214?src=>
-----
Willard McCarty,
Professor emeritus, King's College London;
Editor, Interdisciplinary Science Reviews; Humanist
www.mccarty.org.uk<http://www.mccarty.org.uk>
--[2]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2022-08-28 12:39:39+00:00
From: Robert Royar <robert@royar.org>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction?
In terms of movies we should also not forget "Colossus: the Forbin
Project":(1970) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colossus:_The_Forbin_Project.
On Sat, Aug 27, 2022 at 2:04 AM Humanist <humanist@dhhumanist.org> wrote:
>
> Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 36, No. 140.
>
> Date: 2022-08-27 05:51:17+00:00
> From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
> Subject: AI & SF?
>
> [...]
> For movies one thinks of The Matrix, Ex Machina and many others; I'd
> insist on including Charlie Brooker's television series Black Mirror,
> especially "Hated in the Nation" (2016) and "Be Right Back" (2013).
> These raise the question beyond the biographical one rigorously pursued
> by Dillon and Schaffer-Goddard to suggest further the perpetual futurity
> of AI, which some would see as in conflict with, some generative of the
> permanent achievements of the natural sciences.
>
--
Robert Delius Royar
Caught in the net since 1985
--[3]------------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: 2022-08-28 00:55:03+00:00
From: Henry Schaffer <hes@ncsu.edu>
Subject: Re: [Humanist] 36.140: artificial intelligence and science fiction?
On Sat, Aug 27, 2022 at 2:04 AM Humanist <humanist@dhhumanist.org> wrote:
>
> Humanist Discussion Group, Vol. 36, No. 140.
> Department of Digital Humanities, University of Cologne
> Hosted by DH-Cologne
> www.dhhumanist.org
> Submit to: humanist@dhhumanist.org
>
>
>
>
> Date: 2022-08-27 05:51:17+00:00
> From: Willard McCarty <willard.mccarty@mccarty.org.uk>
> Subject: AI & SF?
>
> I am continuing to look for comprehensive and insightful studies of the
> relationship between artificial intelligence and science fiction. This
> relationship has been noted for decades, both for the contrast of scifi
> with 'real science' and for the indebtedness of the latter to the former.
> Despite that, Sarah Dillon and Jennifer Schaffer-Goddard write in "What
> AI researchers read: the role of literature in artificial intelligence
> research"*, empirical studies have been lacking. To address this, they
> offer "a pilot interview study investigating the leisure reading habits of
> 20 practising AI researchers based in the United Kingdom."
>
> In Common Sense, the Turing Test, and the Quest for Real AI (MIT Press,
> 2017) Canadian computer scientist Hector Levesque defines AI as “the
> study of how to make computers behave the way they do in the
> movies”--tongue in cheek? He seems quite serious to me.
>
I'm not going to give an empirical study - or maybe it is one
https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/we-asked-gpt-3-to-write-an-academic-
paper-about-itself-mdash-then-we-tried-to-get-it-published/
or perhaps an experiment in an empirical study?
As I read that, I was contrasting GPT-3
<https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GPT-3> with the science fiction I, Robot
series, and had the uneasy feeling that it's getting harder to predict the
results of a Turing test.
> For movies one thinks of The Matrix, Ex Machina and many others; I'd
> insist on including Charlie Brooker's television series Black Mirror,
> especially "Hated in the Nation" (2016) and "Be Right Back" (2013).
> These raise the question beyond the biographical one rigorously pursued
> by Dillon and Schaffer-Goddard to suggest further the perpetual futurity
> of AI, which some would see as in conflict with, some generative of the
> permanent achievements of the natural sciences.
>
> Any suggestions or comments?
>
The linked short article above didn't deal directly with your question,
but I think it's relevant.
--henry
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