This week: Artificial Intelligence Edited by: Robert Waltz  
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I imagine a world in which AI is going to make us work more productively, live longer, and have cleaner energy.
—Fei-Fei Li
The thing that's going to make artificial intelligence so powerful is its ability to learn, and the way AI learns is to look at human culture.
—Dan Brown
An AI utopia is a place where people have income guaranteed because their machines are working for them. Instead, they focus on activities that they want to do, that are personally meaningful like art or, where human creativity still shines, in science.
—Oren Etzioni |
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AI is nothing new.
"But, Waltz, they just invented it."
Well, okay, its implementation in what we have decided to call the "real world" is relatively recent. But those of us raised on a steady diet of fantasy and science fiction can't be blamed for considering it old hat.
Arguably the oldest surviving written story is the Epic of Gilgamesh, which has elements that, today, would place it squarely in the Fantasy genre. The main character is, obviously, Gilgamesh, but he had a companion—Enkidu. Enkidu wasn't born of man and woman, but created by the gods to be Gilgy's sidekick.
Whether that's what we'd call artificial intelligence or not is debatable, but the basic idea is similar: purpose-built, not born naturally.
Flashing forward four thousand years or so, we have the first science fiction story, Frankenstein. Again, it's debatable whether the creature Victor Frankenstein created could be considered an artificial intelligence, but, as with Enkidu, the parallel is clear.
My point being that, while the details might change over time and with advances in technology, psychology, sociology, and philosophy, the idea of coming up with a thinking thing or creature, without benefit of the usual recreational activity, is nothing new.
It's also nothing new to be pants-wettingly terrified of the idea. And I'm not knocking that; it provides conflict, which of course drives plot and character motivation.
You know what would be new and refreshing, though? A story where people create an AI and it doesn't turn on us. I know, I know, it sounds impossible, right? Like writing a tale about a Mars colony that doesn't eventually rebel against Earth.
But it's been done. Sort of. Star Wars—which I continue to insist is fantasy cosplaying science fiction, not that genre is all that important—is the first thing that comes to mind, with its legions of helpful, if sometimes annoying, droids.
I'm sure there have been others. While Asimov's "Three Laws of Robotics" has been roundly discredited, they worked as a plot device, and I don't recall that his stories involved a robot apocalypse (it's been a while, though, and my memory is far from perfect—thus proving that I'm not an AI myself).
I suspect that much of the fear comes from our generalized xenophobia, fear of the "other." But unless we also invent a limitless power source (or the robots do so), there's always a simple solution if one of them gets out of control. |
Some fantasy for your enjoyment:
| | | Kindness [E] #2285018
Short story of kindness and the wonderful effect it can have
by Dragonfly  |
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Last time, in "Clothing" , I addressed dress.
s : When it comes to clothes, I attended a lecture by a local author who studied the history of clothing as part of her anthropology degree. Something she told us that I have used in my fantasy work is that pants with leggings were not common in ancient times because they were not easy for the hoi polloi to make. She said that was why smocks and robes and aprons and skirts were more common. Pants cost more as well; what we would call the middle classes were most likely to wear them. It was only in later Roman periods (pre-Middle Ages) where pants as we know them became more readily available. Anyway, sorry for interrupting; just thought I'd share.
Much of today's fashion is only possible thanks to machinery and automation.
BIG BAD WOLF is Howling  : Currently, I've been working on some stuff where the "Master" race/specie wears what could be seen as, more or less, contemporary, while the "Slaves" have to wear plain neutral colors - a tunic and set of trousers, basically. Then there's the "Rebels", whose clothes are a mix between Caveman hides and Road Warrior leather, and rags.
As it is, a Master's first indication that they are in the sights of a Rebel's weapon might just be the following phrase - "Fancy pants, Mr. Fancy Pants."
Exactly the sort of thing I was talking about.
Osirantinous  : Thanks muchly for mentioning my short story!! And I like this article on clothes. I love how clothes feel and/or look on a character - from another's point of view - but I'm seriously bad at explaining. I'm sure half my stories read like the characters are naked just because clothing is barely mentioned!
"Barely?" I see what you did there.
QPdoll is Grateful : I've never really thought about fashion in fantasy. Oh, I read about what they're wearing, but nothing has ever really stood out for me that I would remember. Thank goodness the story overrode the fashion descriptions! But, I have looked up when zippers were made. I'm almost always amazed at when things were invented. They tend to be earlier than I think. The zipper, for instance ... 1851, and it was called the "Clasp Locker." It was introduced at the 1893 Chicago World's Fair. The modern zipper was created in 1913 and patented in 1917 as the "Separate Fastener."
Thank you for a fun newsletter!
I find the opposite: that things were usually invented later than I imagined. Which is another reason I like to know the actual times.
THANKFUL SONALI Library Class!  : Hallo - interesting topic!
I guess you could add 'Climate' to the list of factors. It would definitely affect the attire.
Yes... no excuse for overlooking that, except that I'm only human. (Or am I?)
Well, that's it for me for April! See you next month, provided the robot apocalypse doesn't intervene. Until then,
DREAM ON!!!
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Fantasy: April 05, 2023 Issue [#11894]
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