Ted Chiang on how to write AI science fiction in the age of AI hype
Understand this story
In a conversation with an interviewer, science fiction writer Ted Chiang argued that science fiction writers cannot guarantee readers will correctly understand their work, nor can they "adjust for any reader who misreads it," so there is no need to cater to Silicon Valley's AI hype narrative. He suggests setting stories in the far future, alternate history, or a secondary world, or explicitly writing out the scientific basis of AI to distinguish it from LLMs, and recommends Greg Egan's 2024 novella "Death and the Gorgon" as an example of a counter-narrative.
AI overview based on source reports · Updated 3 days ago
Coverage timeline
Follow the coverage to explore different perspectives.
- Hacker News AIA.I. Stories in the Age of AI Hype: A Conversation with Ted Chiang
In an interview, Ted Chiang discusses how to write science fiction about artificial intelligence amid Silicon Valley hype, citing Ali Alkhatib's view of AI as a political project that shifts authority toward centralized power and his own argument that AI easily helps capital against labor but not the reverse. Chiang says writers cannot guarantee readers interpret fiction correctly, and suggests alternatives such as writing about LLMs critically, setting sentient-machine stories in distant futures or secondary worlds, or explaining a story's scientific basis, pointing to Greg Egan's 2024 novelette "Death and the Gorgon." He adds that his novella The Lifecycle of Software Objects still raises compelling questions about moral obligations to sentient digital life, but that LLMs are not conscious, cannot suffer, and are owed nothing.
Activity for this story
- Current comparable activity
- 3
- Peak comparable activity
- 10Nov 4 00:00
- Change in the past 24 hours
- -49%
Trends compare the same fully observed participants, which may cover fewer participants than current activity. Move the pointer or tap the chart to inspect hourly activity; use the left and right arrow keys with a keyboard.