Somewhere around the middle of this century, artificial intelligence will evolve beyond its human architects, vastly superior in every way. Technology will become independent of us, rapidly evolving beyond our wildest dreams… or nightmares.
This science fiction anthology that is set over the fifty years leading to the Singularity explores this idea.
Written by Andrew Baguley, Tara Basi, Diann Beck, Richie Brown, Lee Burgess, Dee Chilton, Yvetta Douarin, Jennifer Hawkins, Susannah Heffernan, Tom J Hingley, Michelle Hood, Clive Howard, Maggie Innes, Nick Jackson, David Jacobson, Matt George Lovett, Vera Mark, Ben Marshall, Chris McAleer, Don McVey, Ahren Morris, Sarah Newman, Tom Nolan, KT Parker, Elinor Perry-Smith, Steve Pool, Emma Pullar, Carmen Radtke, Mark Renshaw, Ann Rumsby, Patrick Ryder, Claire Rye, Caroline Slocock, Daniel Staniforth, Christopher Stanley, Dave Stevenson, Jade Syed-Bokhari, Melissa Szydlek, Simon Thomas, Ilesh Topiwala, Phil Town, Nick Twyford, Carrie Wachob, Danielle Wager, Christian Ward, Stephanie Wessell, Kim L. Wheeler, Bethany White, David Wilks, Nick Yates.
Project team: Jade Wheldon, Bryonny Quigly, Emma Heath and Cristina Palmer-Romero // Project leader Chris Jones
The Story of the Stories...
For many it is not IF computers will become sentient, it is WHEN.
Some even think this has occurred already. How often are you spooked about how clever these smart devices have become? One minute you are thinking about how awesome it would be to Cosplay as Iron Man for a Comic convention, and then BOOM – Iron Man costumes galore appear all over your social media! It is as if Artificial Intelligence is not only listening in on every conversation, but also already reading our minds.
It does not take a stretch of the imagination to consider that within the next fifty years Artificial Intelligence could become self-aware resulting in exponential growth in uncontrollable technology.
This hypothetical event is known as the Singularity, in which humans could be rendered obsolete. We could be wiped out Terminator-style, cared for by a more enlightened superintelligence or something else could occur beyond our comprehension. Whichever way it turns out, resistance will indeed be futile.
Such a theoretical marvel is a rich breeding ground for fertile imaginations. This scenario formed the basis of The Singularity50 anthology Create50 – fifty short stories set over the next fifty years charting the rise of Artificial Intelligence.
The Process
The Create50 team mapped out the next five decades in a hypothetical timeline charting major events such as wars, disasters, and political shifts. This future was split into three distinct eras – pre-Singularity, the Singularity event itself, and what life could be like after the rise of the machines. This was all a guideline to inspire and encourage a range of different stories with the same central theme. Authors could set their story in any of these eras and use the timeline or go beyond them.
Following a successful formula used by the Create50 team for their 50Kisses, Impact50 and Twisted50 projects, writers from all over the world were encouraged to submit their stories to the Singlularity50 portal – each entry 2,000 words or less with A.I. at the core of the story. Part of the submission process involved reading entries from other authors and offering constructive feedback. Authors used this feedback to help refine their stories in a continual improvement loop that allowed up to three drafts of each entry.
The result was hundreds of entries and a real spirit of communal creative spirit & comradery. I personally found this quite gratifying. My story improved drastically over three drafts thanks to the honest, constructive feedback I received. We were not competition; we were fellow writers and friends co-operating with each other creatively.
Judges then whittled down the submissions to fifty in a nail-biting and A.I. bashing final review and after one last edit, The Singularity50 was published!
The Singularity50
I was lucky enough to be the first story published in the anthology. Automatic Drive is set in a pre-singularity era and is a Black Mirror-esque tale about a corporate-owned automated highway that uses artificial intelligence to keep the traffic flowing… no matter what the human cost. It was an absolute joy to see my story on the page and hold a physical copy in my hands, plus we had a proper physical launch party with a red carpet. I even received one of the awards given out at the launch which still sits proudly on my mantelpiece.
The rest of the anthology is a mixture of chilling, cheering and thought-provoking tales. Fifty different imaginations, all with their unique take on the rise of A.I. in one collection.
Ask your Smart Speaker to order your copy now before it orders it for you and adds you to the naughty-human list!
Mark Renshaw