Science fiction loves a dystopia. Our literary visions of the future give us a chance to explore the worries and fears we have about today’s society and the changes we are powerless to halt. We can’t guarantee what will happen and so, in the face of this loss of control, we create new worlds as warnings. From some of the earliest surviving stories in history through to the latest Hollywood blockbusters, we are shown examples of the terrible horrors that can occur when we play gods and build humans. But, actually, it just might be okay.
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is big news at the moment. We see the results of AI research all around us - or rather, we don’t see them, because more often than not they blend seamlessly into our lives. The customer help on that e-commerce website you used earlier? More likely than not, it was a chatbot: automated AI. Those advertisements on social media that seem to read your thoughts? Machine learning algorithms, trawling vast sets of data to tailor sales to your online history or your status updates.
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