More than just ‘Science Fiction’

Posted on: 7 May 2021 by Sam Solnick in Data and the Digital

Dr Will Slocombe explores some of the dominant trends in science fiction and considers how they relate to our expectations of the future.

The prospect and reality of Artificial Intelligence has long fascinated creators of fictional worlds. But they are not ‘merely’ science fiction, so what might such representations actually reveal? In a whirlwind tour of examples of the technology, from literature, film, and computer games, Dr Will Slocombe explores some of the dominant trends at work in these representations and considers how they relate to our expectations of the future. Dr Will Slocombe, Senior Lecturer in the Department of English, will be joined by guest AI scientist, Dr Louise Dennis.