It's hard to break new ground on the "artificial intelligence turns sentient" story. And yet, Alex + Ada somehow manages to feel fresh even while treading somewhat common tropes. It could be the crisp, clean artwork, or the simple, straightforward dialogue that still strikes a chord in your heart, or maybe the way that the technology feels more like jailbreaking an iPhone than awakening humanity within a person, but that similarity still draws some interesting connections in your mind. Either way, this was a delightful read, and I'm looking forward to the next one.
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Thom Dunn is a Boston-based writer, musician, and utterly terrible dancer. He is the singer/guitarist for the indie rock/power-pop the Roland High Life, as well as a staff writer for the New York Times’ Wirecutter and a regular contributor at BoingBoing.net. Thom enjoys Oxford commas, metaphysics, and romantic clichés (especially when they involve whiskey), and he firmly believes that Journey's "Don't Stop Believing" is the single greatest atrocity committed against mankind. He is a graduate of Clarion Writer's Workshop at UCSD ('13) & Emerson College ('08).
A Hitchhiking Robot's Guide to...Canada?
This little robot is hitchhiking across Canada, from Nova Scotia to British Columbia. It's an interesting sociological experiment, and though I personally find "facial expressions" to kind of awkward, I definitely get how it makes him come off as much less threatening than, say, this guy:
They make the point right around the 4:20 mark that an experiment this could only ever work in Canada, because Americans are definitely way too trigger-happy, paranoid, and generally crazy, and would probably destroy the poor little Hitchbot. Especially once he got started making small talk. Hell, I got annoyed just listening to the short clip of his Wikipedia rambling. I'm not even sure how long I'd last in the car with this Canadian C-3PO.
I do kind of wonder about what a robot experiment like this could do in studying the dangerous aspects of hitchhiking, especially if it's recording its interactions. I've never actually hitchhiked myself, but at least in America, we're told that you're expected to trade "ass, cash, or grass." Sexual assault in particular is a major threat for women. But Hitchbot, he's just a freeloader!
...or is he? Hrmmm...
All Actors Are Robots (no but seriously)
In an effort to combine my seemingly disparate interests, I pitched an idea for a new column to my editor at Tor.com, focusing on the depiction of sci-fi and fantasy in the world of theatre. People don't typically think of plays as being bastions for weaving elegant tales of aliens and dragons and cyborgs (oh my!), but in fact, you'd be surprised! (In theatre, we just cover up the "genre" gimmick by giving it some pretentious name like "magical realism" or "futurism" etc). Anyway, here's the first of such columns, exploring RUR (Rossum's Universal Robots), a Czech play from the early 20th century that actually introduced the word "robot" to the world.
"SFF Onstage: Rossum's Universal Robots" on Tor Dot Com
The Future of the Emerson College Public Safety Video
My fellow Emerson alum are all too aware that the ATM is possibly the greatest invention ever. This week, over at FiveByFiveHundred.com, my newest piece of speculative flash-fiction explores the future of the ATM, and the possible ramifications of artificial intelligence as it spreads to more pedestrian technologies. Also, because sassy robots are just plain funny. And that's what really matters. Enjoy!
- Automatic Teller Man at FiveByFiveHundred.com