The Use of AI in Science Fiction Stories Has Changed
One of the first science fiction books I read which seemed to make my synapses fire off all at once in a cognitive supernova was William Gibson’s Neuromancer. In it, Gibson presents both AIs Wintermute and Neuromancer as complementary halves of one family’s mega-corporation. In essence, by unifying both the AIs the corporation started by the Tessier-Ashpools, their corporation–and by extension, their family influence–would become immortal.
Sort of like the literalization of a corporation’s “going concern.”
As can be expected, the AIs here are vast demi-godlike entities, alien and threatening by turns.
Re-reading Naomi Kritzer’s “Cat Pictures Please” the AI there is more interested in finding ways to please or help different people who post cat pictures online. It’s a cute and very positive story. It also offers a clever explanation for why cat pictures are one of the currencies of current internet culture. The story is told from the point of view of the AI itself, which self-actualizes with no one noticing, able to decide its own purpose and what rules it will follow.
This story predates the release of a twitter bot into the wild. You may have heard how it turned out.
I liked the story quite a bit, but after reading it, was left with questions. Does this mean that AIs–and by extension, corporations–should be viewed as people?
This message sounds familiar.
No Comments