alt Hacker Newsas a high schooler I took a summer class in “reading & writing scifi” offered by MIT Junction. it was very influential on my intellectual development and after that I focused myself on learning software and electronics, the only crafts I saw that could give me the power to pull parts of the visions into the present.
a few weeks ago I started on a focused read of historical scifi, in chronological order, that had something to say about intelligent machines and AI. I feel like the best story for our moment might be “The Master Key,” where a boy wise beyond his years rejects powers too advanced for humanity to adapt.
all my interest in building https://rbg.systems came from wanting the sort of powerful, resilient, reflective software systems that show up in fiction all the time but are so far from the reality. it’s pretty boring stuff to try and reach something like the ship described in Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson.
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For those intereseted. Here's the link to "The Master Key" on Gutenberg https://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/21526
In a similar vein, I really liked "Robot" by Adam Wiśniewski-Snerg, first published in 1973. It doesn't really mention AI itself, but it is about the relationship between humans and artificial life/intelligence. The central theme is the question of knowing if you're "real" in an artificial world. Not the easiest read and can be quite dark at times, but one of my favorite works of classical science fiction. Very underrated!
That is interesting. I might have to find some time to check out the book. Thanks for sharing your experience.
> “The Master Key,” where a boy wise beyond his years rejects powers too advanced for humanity to adapt.
For those stumbling by- that's a 1901 novel by L. Frank Baum, who also wrote The Wizard Of Oz! Here's a synopsis: https://oz.fandom.com/wiki/The_Master_Key