Humans and Representations of AI in (Science) Fiction

Grosser, Diana (2023) Humans and Representations of AI in (Science) Fiction. Masters thesis, University of Wales Trinity Saint David.

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Abstract

In this dissertation, I am interested in the concept of SF and the representation of AI in two classical SF novels and two contemporary texts which will be referred to as rather-SF. The primary text used are Isaac Asimov’s The Naked Sun, Philip K. Dick’s Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?, Ian McEwan’s Machines Like Me and Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun. SF is seen as having a material and a metaphorical component, while the umbrella-term AI is seen to be embodied as robot and android, or more generally as human-like artificial entity. Depending on whether the AI figures appear in a classical SF text or in a rather-SF text, the meaning of the novum shifts. In the first case, the AI figure is a material embodiment of a technology-driven future, while in the second case, it is an artificial companion for humans, living in the same space and having its own understanding of language, emotion and art. In both cases nevertheless, a relationship between human and AI is constructed, and, even if it is the human who creates the AI, it is the AI who plays a central role in the reshaping of human character and behaviour, even of the human self.

Item Type:	Thesis (Masters)
Subjects:	P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions:	Theses and Dissertations > Masters Dissertations
Depositing User:	Diana Grosser-Dalalau
Date Deposited:	19 Apr 2024 09:29
Last Modified:	19 Apr 2024 09:29
URI:	https://repository.uwtsd.ac.uk/id/eprint/2913

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