16 February 2011

Science Fiction

When I was younger all of my stories dealt with dragons of some kind. I was fascinated by the whole idea. I still love reading fantasy books that deal with dragons, and magic but I have found my writing, with the exception of my flash fiction, tends towards the genre of science fiction. I think this has something to do with the fact that I have worked for several years with the latest technologies.

Today I read about the IBM computer Watson, going up against the two most successful contenders on Jeopardy. I feel like my Sci-Fiction stories are now ancient history. It truly amazes me how much technology has expanded in my limited life-time not to mention from when my grandparents were young. Some of my co-workers have made funny remarks about a robot apocalypse but there is one thought that makes me happy. While Watson may be a genius, he does not yet have the capability of programming something that hasn’t already been programmed into him. At least, I don’t think he has that capability. As humans we have the ability to evolve, not just learn from our mistakes, but from the mistakes of others. The first night the Jeopardy aired, one of the human contestants gave the wrong response; two seconds later Watson gave the same response. That thought alone helps me breath a little easier at night.

Now my only concern is trying to come up with fresh material that is still science fiction and hasn’t been overdone.

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