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Answers

A.I. in Literature

 

THE ANSWERS

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It’s been around a long time, dipping back to the mid-20th century, but now it’s difficult to read a newspaper or mag or peruse social media without someone sounding off on this latest iteration – are we doomed to hell with this new level of A.I. or will it help us formulate answers to climate change and other life-threatening concerns?  We know the brilliant precursors – I, Robot, Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Hyperion, and many others – but our focus begins with cyberpunk and includes work of the 21st century.


Name the novel:

1.  In this classic cyberpunk novel of the early 90s, there is an A.I. character in the metaverse named the Librarian. 
Snow Crash by Neil Stephenson

2.   Considered a seminal work in the cyberpunk genre, this novel depicts a dangerous conspiracy involving A.I., virtual reality, and corporate powers.
Neuromancer by William Gibson

3. Set in a future where humans have achieved immortality through A.I., this novel raises philosophical questions about the nature of consciousness, morality, and the consequences of unlimited power.
The Metamorphosis of Prime Intellect
by Roger Williams.

4. In this short story, a husband and wife, who create robots for a living, want their robot to enter the Gladiator Nationals - a competition for a military contract.  But the robot doesn’t want to fight and so he removes his appendages.
“Glitch” by Hugh Howey

5. The first experimental novel composed by A.I., which is a disjointed and often bizarre narrative that showcases the creative output of the AI program.
The Policeman’s Beard

6. A much more recent novel composed by A.I. emulates Jack Kerouac’s On the Road.
1 the Road

7. This novella, set in the far future, follows a security android who gains autonomy and embarks on a journey of self-discovery while dealing with its distrust of humans.
All Systems Red by Martha Wells

8.  In this post-apocalyptic “robot Western” where humans have been destroyed by the machines they built to serve them, we follow a lone robot scavenger trying to survive and navigate the complexities of A.I.
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill

9.  In this novel a precocious teen computer programmer obsessed with writing code creates her own A.I. which gains exponentially in intelligence and soon is hacking into banks, helping her change her grades, and guiding her as she navigates the minefield of school social life.
Every Line of You by Naomi Gibson

10.  Set in a dystopian future in which some children are genetically engineered for enhanced academic ability, schooling is provided entirely at home by on-screen tutors and parents who can afford it often buy their children androids as companions. The book is narrated by one such Artificial Friend (AF). (No, it’s not M3GAN!)
Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

11. In this novel, the A.I. is an algorithm created to make huge amounts of money on the financial markets in an alternative 2010.  
The Fear Index by Robert Harris

12.  A husband and wife who live in a remote area are approached by a ‘government’ man who says the husband has won a lottery that puts him in the running to live for a time on a spaceship and to keep the wife company while he’s gone they are going to create a replica of him. 
Foe  by Iain Reid



13. In this novel, a ship’s A.I. loads herself into an android body and leaves the starship to pursue an independent existence in the company of a technician; while a parallel narrative strand explores the early years in the life of a genetically modified child slave.
A Closed and Common Orbit by Becky Chambers

14. This science fiction novel follows a drug pirate and a pharmaceutical robot agent as they uncover a conspiracy surrounding a new drug and question the ethics of A.I. and autonomy.
Autonomous by Annalee Newitz

15. Set in a 1980s alternative history where robotics technology has progressed to the point that artificial humans are on the consumer market for purchase, the protagonist purchases one of the first generation of artificial humans -  and they both fall in love with the same woman.
Machines Like Me Ian McEwan

16. In the year 2049 a deadly non-viral agent intended for biowarfare spreads out of control and scientists must scramble to ensure the survival of the human race which they do by placing genetically engineered children inside the cocoons of large-scale robots—to be incubated, birthed, and raised by machines.
The Mother Code by Carole Stivers

17.  In this novel an aged robot is the recent victim of a debilitating accident in which the socially acceptable thing to do in robot culture is deactivate, but this robot is not ready to end his life. Instead, he orders spare parts for himself and rents a remote beach house in order to repair and ponder why he wants to go on.
Barron Cove by Ariel S. Winter

18.  This author wrote a novella using three artificial intelligence programs. Or rather three artificial intelligence programs wrote it with extensive plotting and prompting from the author, depending on how you look at it. “I am the creator of this work, 100 percent,” he said, “but, on the other hand, I didn’t create the words.”
Death of an Author by Aiden Marchine  (Stephen Marche)

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