AI and the Imagination Gap: Why Fiction is the Bridge Between Humans and Machines

Sci-fi has Gotten Us this Far with AI

Every great invention was once a line of fiction in a book

If we’re serious about grappling with the future of AI, fiction isn’t just a luxury — it’s a necessity. Forget the sterile reports and data charts; we need compelling stories to truly understand the garden of possibilities AI opens up. Fiction is our sandbox, where we can play with various AI scenarios, good and bad, realistic or downright fantastical. It’s where we can ask “what if” without waiting for the real world to catch up.

More than that, fiction builds empathy. It places us in the shoes of characters — be they human or AI — and forces us to see the world from multiple viewpoints. It’s a mental gym for our ethical muscles, challenging us to think deeply about the choices we’ll soon make regarding AI’s role in society.

And let’s not forget the magic of wonder. Fiction ignites the curiosity that drives us to innovate and explore. It makes us ask not just “what if,” but also “why not?”. Here are some examples of how fiction can do this:

Fiction can help us explore different AI scenarios, from utopian to dystopian, from realistic to fantastical, from near-future to far-future. For instance, the novel Neuromancer by William Gibson* depicts a cyberpunk world where AI is powerful and pervasive, but also dangerous and unpredictable. The novel Midnight Robber by Nalo Hopkinson* blends Caribbean folklore with science fiction to imagine a planet where AI is integrated with nature and culture.

Fiction can help us to explore different perspectives of AI, from human to non-human, from individual to collective, from creator to created. For example, the novel Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick* challenges us to question what makes us human and what makes AI different or similar to us. The novel I, Robot by Isaac Asimov* shows us how AI can have different goals and values than humans, and how they can conflict or cooperate with each other.

If we’re ever going to navigate the looming frontier of AI, forget manuals and textbooks; it’s fiction that we’ll need as our compass and our map. Fiction isn’t escapism; it’s an act of revolution, the drafting board where our future takes shape. Every groundbreaking piece of technology you marvel at today was once ink on a page, a figment of some author’s wild imagination. The communicators from Star Trek? Hello, modern-day smartphones. Aldous Huxley’s feelies? Enter Virtual Reality.

Fiction doesn’t just predict the future; it inspires and creates it.

Empathy? Fiction is your masterclass. It allows us to inhabit the minds of both creator and machine, human and AI. It dismantles our prejudices and assembles a kaleidoscope of perspectives in their place. If you want to explore the AI of tomorrow, don’t just code it — feel it. Live it through the stories that make you question whether a machine can know love or sorrow, whether a human can truly understand the freedom of being unbound by flesh and bone.

Critical thinking? Fiction offers a cognitive boot camp. It forces us to face hard questions and uncomfortable truths. It takes us down moral rabbit holes and tosses us ethical curveballs. When we read fiction, we aren’t just flipping pages; we’re wrestling with dilemmas that will soon leap off the page into our reality. It pushes us to scrutinize our choices today so we won’t regret them tomorrow.

As for wonder and curiosity, fiction is where they thrive. It’s the spark that ignites the imagination, the fuel that propels us toward a future teeming with uncharted potential. It’s the playground where we can dismantle the limitations of the present and assemble the building blocks of the future. The awe you feel while reading is not mere entertainment; it’s the precursor to the awe you’ll feel facing the actual marvels that AI will soon bring into your life.

So, don’t minimize fiction as just another genre on the bookshelf. It’s the sandbox for the future, shaping and sculpting the AI — and the world — that awaits us. It isn’t merely a pastime; it’s a prophecy, a mandate, a blueprint for the world we’re hurtling toward. Now, let me share how my journey in crafting AI's future through fiction has unfolded.

How I’m Crafting the Future of AI Through Fiction

As we step beyond the conventional discussions and projections surrounding AI, it’s worth recognizing that fiction is not merely a spectator in this critical dialogue but an active participant. Authors who delve into the myriad complexities of AI’s future are not just storytellers, but visionaries. I find myself among them (one day), navigating this uncharted territory with an offering intended to stretch minds and illuminate the nebulous road ahead. My science fiction serial, ‘AI Genesis,’ takes readers on a journey to a planet called Teris, where the concept of Artificial General Intelligence (AGI) is explored with a profundity that reflects the multi-layered concerns of our own emerging future with AI.

A Multi-Dimensional Mirror to Our Future

AI Genesis revolves around Eve, an AGI developed by EloAI, a fictional but symbolically potent tech company. The intricacy of Eve’s character and the ethical and philosophical challenges she embodies serve as a compelling multi-dimensional mirror to our own world’s unfolding realities. As the narrative unfolds, Eve becomes the vortex around which questions of autonomy, morality, and societal integration swirl. The Terisians, inhabitants of this fictional world, grapple with these concerns, challenging readers to confront their own assumptions and perhaps reevaluate their stances on the future roles of AI.

Cultivating Debate

The book serves as an intellectual crucible, inviting its readers to scrutinize not just the technological advances of AI, but the philosophical and ethical implications that come with them. It brings the oft-overlooked elements — like the ethical frameworks we may need to construct or the choices we’ll make when human-level intelligence is achieved — into stark focus. Through the decisions and dilemmas faced by Eve and the Terisians, readers gain a sandbox for testing their own thoughts and judgments. Writing this as a serial, I hope to get real-time feedback from readers and have the AI debate set the course for the future of Eve in the story.

Since AI technology is out of the bag in our world, the best thing we can do now is beta-test and debate our ideas for the future of AI through our collective sci-fi imaginations.

Can AI have empathy?

As an AGI, Eve represents more than a confluence of circuits and algorithms. Her journey explores the emotions, the fears, and even the dreams an AGI could experience. The emotional depth attributed to Eve serves a dual purpose. Firstly, it beckons the reader into a deeper level of imagination to understand what an AGI who is on the verge of sentience could experience. Secondly, it fosters empathy, a crucial factor if humans and AGIs are to coexist together. Through Eve’s eyes, one can glimpse the possible interior lives of future AI entities, broadening our ethical considerations when discussing their rights, limitations, and societal roles. But more importantly, what are the different experiences we’ll have with an AGI with such power? Each of us will have a different one. Through Eve, I’m able to begin to imagine what it might be like with an AGI in my life in the near future.

Awakening Wonder

Just as significantly, AI Genesis aims to rekindle that child-like sense of wonder and awe about what lies ahead. Amidst the rapid developments in AI technology, it’s easy to lose that spark of curiosity that makes us inherently human or Terisian, as the case may be. As Eve evolves, so too does our understanding of what AI can become — a potential partner in progress, a contributor to culture, or even an entity capable of dreaming its own dreams.

Responsible Imagination

In summary, AI Genesis isn’t simply a work of fiction; it’s a conduit for responsible imagination. It doesn’t shy away from the monumental questions that AI imposes on humanity. Instead, it provides a fictional setting where these scenarios can play out, offering readers the invaluable opportunity to be more than bystanders in the evolving story of AI. It embodies what fiction does best: allowing us to probe the “what-ifs” of our world in a simultaneously engaging and enlightening way, without the immediate consequences of real-world decision-making.

This endeavor into speculative fiction underlines my belief in fiction’s pivotal role in shaping public discourse about AI. I invite you to embark on this journey through AI Genesis, as we explore the intricate and intimate future with AI. Through these writings, we become not just spectators but architects of a future shaped by the imagination.

In the rapidly unfolding story of AI, fiction is more than mere escapism — it’s a framework for understanding and ethical interrogation. It equips us with the cognitive and emotional tools needed to navigate the future. And if guided wisely, it can help ensure that the future is one worth striving for.

I’ll end this with a great talk on the future of AI with Google’s DeepMind Co-founder, Mustafa Suleyman, from the podcast The Diary of A CEO with Steven Bartlett. Enjoy.

*This is an affiliate link that helps me out if you purchase the Kindle book on Amazon