Book Details

Bringing together literary scholars, computer scientists, ethicists, philosophers of mind, and scholars from affiliated disciplines, this collection of essays offers important and timely insights into the pasts, presents, and, above all, possible futures of Artificial Intelligence.

This book covers topics such as ethics and morality, identity and selfhood, and broader issues about AI, addressing questions about the individual, social, and existential impacts of such technologies. Through the works of science fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov, Stanislaw Lem, Ann Leckie, Iain M. Banks, and Martha Wells, alongside key visual productions such as Ex Machina, Westworld, and Her, contributions illustrate how science fiction might inform potential futures as well as acting as a springboard to bring disciplinary knowledge to bear on significant developments of Artificial Intelligence.

Addressing a broad, interdisciplinary audience, both expert and non-expert readers gain an in-depth understanding of the wide range of pressing issues to which Artificial Intelligence gives rise, and the ways in which science fiction narratives have been used to represent them. Using science fiction in this manner enables readers to see how even fictional worlds and imagined futures have very real impacts on how we understand these technologies. As such, readers are introduced to theoretical positions on Artificial Intelligence through fictional works as well as encouraged to reflect on the diverse aspects of Artificial Intelligence through its many philosophical, social, legal, scientific, and cultural ramifications.

Barry Dainton is Professor of Philosophy at the University of Liverpool.  He specializes in metaphysics and philosophy of mind, and is also interested in the philosophical implications of advances in science and technology, and is one of the Co-Directors of the Olaf Stapledon Centre for Speculative Futures.  His previous publications include Stream of Consciousness (2nd edition, 2006), The Phenomenal Self (2008), Time and Space (2nd edition, 2010) and Self (2014). 

Will Slocombe is a Senior Lecturer in English at the University of Liverpool. He is interested in science fiction and futures work, especially representations of Artificial Intelligence, and has published various articles and chapters on this and related areas, including new media narratology, computer games, and contemporary literature and theory. He is one of the Co-Directors of the Olaf Stapledon Centre for Speculative Futures.

Attila Tanyi holds a PhD (Central European University, Hungary) and is currently a professor of philosophy in the Department of Philosophy at UiT: The Arctic University of Norway. He specializes in moral and political philosophy but his work stretches over disciplinary boundaries. He regularly collaborates with philosophers whose specializations are very different from his own, as well as with nonphilosophers with an interest in philosophical problems. His work has appeared in numerous journals and has edited several volumes of special issues.