The Locus Fundraiser Auction HAS ONLY ONE MORE DAY! Go check it out. There are some very special collector items, and all proceeds will go to support Locus!
There's a rare signed first edition of Children of Dune waiting to join your collection!
One of the best movies in recent times, based upon one of the best sci-fi novellas of recent times, soundtracked by the saddest song in recent times. What an awesome movie Arrival turned out to be. Enjoy!
#KellyLink is one of science fiction's most important writers, a master of the short story to rank with the likes of #TedChiang. For a decade, Kelly's friends have traded whispers that she was working on a novel - a giant novel - and the rumors were true and the novel is glorious and you will love it:
“when a large language model produces false information, it’s referred to as a “hallucination.” He prefers “confabulation.” Hallucination implies not only the presence of an inner mind, but the capacity of that mind to have sensory experiences. Confabulation, on the other hand, happens when a person unknowingly falsifies information to gloss over a gap in their memory. It’s still a metaphor, but a far better one for how current AI works” —says Ted Chiang https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6308990/ted-chiang/
The World Wasn't Ready For You is #JustinCKey's first book. It's a short story collection, from a major publisher. This is basically unheard of. Big publishers rarely publish collections, and when they do, it's almost always after a string of extremely successful novels:
If you'd like an essay-formatted version of this thread to read or share, here's a link to it on pluralistic.net, my surveillance-free, ad-free, tracker-free blog:
And now, Justin C Key. To be in such company is, as they say, a big fucking deal.
I can't say I'm surprised. Key was my student at the #ClarionWest writing workshop - a year full of standout writers among whom Key was still a standout.
Amid an explosion of panic about artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, and runaway algos, the celebrated writer has entered the chat. FYI: A potential Terminator situation is the least of his concerns.
Also, a fascinating discussion about #AI devevelopment b/w a sociologist from #UCBerkeley and #SciFi luminary, #TedChiang.
They are on the right track, but concurrently so wrong in this new but limited perspective.
"The doomsday scenario is not a manufacturing A.I. transforming the entire planet into paper clips, as one famous thought experiment has imagined. It’s A.I.-supercharged corporations destroying the environment and the working class in their pursuit of shareholder value."
"Can A.I. ameliorate the inequities of our world other than by pushing us to the brink of societal collapse?
"If A.I. is as powerful a tool as its proponents claim, they should be able to find other uses for it besides intensifying the ruthlessness of capital.”
“We Have Built a Giant Treadmill That We Can’t Get Off”: Sci-Fi Prophet Ted Chiang on How to Best Think About About AI (www.vanityfair.com)
Amid an explosion of panic about artificial intelligence, ChatGPT, and runaway algos, the celebrated writer has entered the chat. FYI: A potential Terminator situation is the least of his concerns.