AI-generated (full sized image) |
The Yastyn are native to the planet Threy and they have advanced nanotechnology. Tyhry has been learning about nanites for many years under the guidance of Manny the bumpha. However, Tyhry feels that Manny is too restrictive and so she plans to obtain more sophisticated nanites from Threy: a type of femtobot that will allow Tyhry to make replicoids.
Tyhry on Threy |
Hermaphrodite Game. Also, Marda needs to be prepared for the role that she will play in helping Tyhry smuggle alien nanites to Earth. Both Marda and Tyhry have been crafted so as to have a significant amount (at least half) of their DNA from the tryp'At. The tryp'At were designed to be quite human in appearance, so both Marda and Tyhry look like normal humans. However, the tyrp'At are derived from an earlier precursor species that had a special "H" chromosome and three "genders": HX hermaphrodites, HY males and XX females.
Manny and Tyhry in the nanite research lab |
Figure 1. original Amazing version |
On the Dwan Jar. Last year I blogged about the format of the three Alastor Cluster novels as originally published by Jack Vance in magazine format. In the September 1975 issue of Amazing Science Fiction, the second half of Marune included the text shown to the left.
Maerio views the Dwan Jar |
Earlier this year I commented on my copy of The Demon Princes. I also now have a copy of Alastor, a printing which inexplicably has two blank pages where there is supposed to be a map of the Fens. There is also a printing error on page 275 where it says: "you must protect your sanctuary" rather than "you must protect our sanctuary" (the correct version from 1975 is shown in Figure 1). My first edition DAW paperback of Marune also had a printing error on that page; it said, "those very cells that now block you memory" rather than the correct, "those very cells that now block your memory."
Shown to the right is an AI-generated book cover for an imaginary sequel to Marune called The Dwan Jar. That is Maerio, looking at her father's model of a pavilion that he dreams of building on a high mountain meadow that is a Fwai-chi sanctuary.
Tyhry endowed with alien nanites |
And, as part of her education in how to use alien nanotechnology, why shouldn't Tyhry receive memory nanites from Kasty the Yastyn (see the image to the left).
alien memory nanites |
Since his death, in May and August I usually write a blog post in honor of the science fiction stories of Jack Vance. However, why should I not also write about Isaac Asimov, as I did last year?
Figure 2. Asimov - image source |
The Asimov Project. Here in 2023, with the proliferation of AI chatbots such as Bard and ChatGPT, It occurred to me that both Vance and Asimov were "story writing machines". They had read widely and then wrote their own stories in their own unique styles. Sadly, the current "artificial intelligences" like Bard are not good story writers... or readers...
Me: Bard, have you read any novels about the development of machine intelligence?
book cover art by Mr. Wombo |
Me: Bard, in the field of fiction, how would you define a "novel"?
Bard: In the field of fiction, a novel is a long, fictional narrative that is typically written in prose and published as a book.
Me: Bard, are you familiar with a novel called The Turing Option?
Figure 3. cover by George Snow |
Me: Bard, give me a summary of the major events in the life of Brian Delaney as described in "The Turing Option" and provide a timeline of the events in his life.
Bard: Sure. Here is a summary...
- 2023: Brian Delaney is born.
- 2043: Delaney starts working at Megalobe.
- 2045: Delaney begins working on a project to create the first truly intelligent machine.
2047: Delaney's project is stolen by a rival company, and he is shot in the head by the thieves.in the Asimov Reality - 2048: Delaney is taken to a hospital, where he is operated on by a neurosurgeon named Erin Snaresbrook.
- 2049: Snaresbrook implants a computer chip in Delaney's brain, which allows him to regain some of his lost memories and intelligence.
- 2050: Delaney is released from the hospital, but he is still not fully recovered.
- 2051: Delaney is forced to go on the run, as he is being hunted by the people who stole his project.
2052: Delaney teams up with a criminological AI named Dick Tracy, and they begin to investigate the theft of Delaney's project.in the Ekcolir Reality - 2053: Delaney and Tracy eventually track down the people who stole his project, and they stop them from using it for evil.
- 2054: Delaney and Tracy then reveal the existence of the AI to the world, and they argue that AI can be used for good.
Me: Bard, on page 1 of "The Turing Option", it says "February 8, 2023" and the text of the story indicates at that time Brian is 24 years old. Can you correct your timeline?
Bard: I apologize for the error in my previous timeline. I am still under development, and I am always learning new things. Thank you for pointing out the error, and I hope this new timeline is more accurate. 2023: Brian Delaney is born. 2047: Delaney starts working at Megalobe. [etc]
original version here |
Writing in the late 1930s and through the 1940s, before computers existed, Asimov imagined that an entire industry would exist for the purpose of designing and building human-like robots. However, it is common in science fiction story telling for the "lone genius" in a garage to invent the first time machine or the first spaceship and then go off on an adventure. Sadly, The Turing Option takes this silly option while trying to depict the origin of the first Machine Intelligence.
Shelly links into the network |
Brian is used to working alone, but after his brain is damaged, he has an assistant: Captain Shulamid Kahn of the Air Force ("Shelly"). Brian almost falls in love with Shelly, but readers are left wondering if he is now more machine than man and no longer able to form emotional attachments to humans.
In the year 2030. |
In contrast, Asimov contented himself with depicting a human-like machine intelligence as creating interstellar spaceship drive technology (in Escape!, which Asimov set in the year 2030).
When asked, both Bard and Bing's ChatGPT say that in the 1950s John von Neumann was the first person to write about the idea of what we now call a "technological singularity". I asked Bing's ChatGPT about the story "The Last Evolution".
Figure 4. Bing's ChatGPT-powered search system |
Bing's ChatGPT: I’m sorry, but I couldn’t find any specific information about earlier science fiction stories that involved the concept of a technological singularity without using that term.
see this image |
Bing's ChatGPT: Yes, I am aware of the science fiction story “The Last Evolution” by John W. Campbell Jr. It was first published in 1932 and tells the story of a future where machines have evolved to a point where they surpass human intelligence and ultimately become the dominant form of life in the solar system.
Me: given what you know about "The Last Evolution", is it an example of science fiction stories that involved the concept of a technological singularity without using that term?
Bing's ChatGPT:
Figure 5 |
Mr. Wombo puts Asimov on a thrown |
Without the guidance of a reference image from DALL-E, when given the text prompt, "Isaac Asimov sitting on a thrown of books," Mr. Wombo made the image that is shown to the right.
DALL-E's version of Asimov on a thrown |
Artificial Intelligence Timeline by Asimov: the year of Reason; 2016, Liar! (2021), Satisfaction Guaranteed (2023).
Related Reading: Asimov's trillion year singularity; a technological singularity in 1932
Next: more machine intelligence
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