Minding the Future: Artificial Intelligence, Philosophical Visions and Science Fiction (Science and Fiction)

Bringing together literary scholars computer scientists ethicists philosophers of mind and scholars from affiliated disciplines this collection of essays offers important and timely insights into the pasts presents and above all possible futures of Artificial Intelligence. This book covers topics such as ethics and morality identity and selfhood and broader issues about AI addressing questions about the individual social and existential impacts of such technologies. Through the works of science fiction authors such as Isaac Asimov Stanislaw Lem Ann Leckie Iain M. Banks and Ma rtha Wells alongside key visual productions such as Ex Machina Westworld and Her contributions illustrate how science fiction might inform potential futures as well as acting as a springboard to bring disciplinary knowledge to bear on significant developments of Artificial Intelligence. Addressing a broad interdisciplinary audience both expert and non-expert readers gain an in-depth understanding of the wide range of pressing issues to which Artificial Intelligence gives rise and the ways in which science fiction narratives have been used to represent them. Using science fiction in this manner enables readers to see how even fictional worlds and imagined futures have very real impacts on how we understand these technologies. As such readers are introduced to theoretical positions on Artificial Intelligence through fictional works as well as encouraged to reflect on the diverse aspects of Artificial Intelligence through its many philosophical social legal scientific and cultural ramifications.