Latest By
Category:


Armor
Artificial Intelligence
Biology
Clothing
Communication
Computers
Culture
Data Storage
Displays
Engineering
Entertainment
Food
Input Devices
Lifestyle
Living Space
Manufacturing
Material
Media
Medical
Miscellaneous
Robotics
Security
Space Tech
Spacecraft
Surveillance
Transportation
Travel
Vehicle
Virtual Person
Warfare
Weapon
Work

"It is change ... that is the dominant factor in society today... the world as it will be. This means that ... every man must take on a science fictional way of thinking.""
- Isaac Asimov

Ava  
  A piece of learning software.  

Anton has an unusual job; he provides input for an endlessly curious artificial intelligence used, as far as he can tell, to make inventories of the most obscure objects imaginable.

Antar had met children who were like that: Why? What? When? Where? How? But children asked because they were curious; with these AVA/Iie systems it was something else - something that he could only think of as a simulated urge for self-improvement. ..

She wouldn't stop until Antar had told her everything he knew about whatever it was that she was playing with on her screen… Once she'd wrung the last meaningless detail out of him, she'd give the object on her screen a final spin, with a bizarrely human smugness, before propelling it into horizonless limbo of her memory.

From The Calcutta Chromosome, by Amitav Ghosh.
Published by Avon Books in 1995
Additional resources -

Many people spend their time as servants to automated machines (like factory workers); how would you feel if asked to be a tutor for machines? Especially given the fact that once you had poured in everything that you knew, that teaching could be duplicated in seconds for as often as it was needed? Every moment you taught, you were bringing yourself closer to obsolescence.

Comment/Join this discussion ( 1 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |

Additional resources:
  More Ideas and Technology from The Calcutta Chromosome
  More Ideas and Technology by Amitav Ghosh
  Tech news articles related to The Calcutta Chromosome
  Tech news articles related to works by Amitav Ghosh

Ava-related news articles:
  - Amazon Mechanical Turk - Humans Help Slow Computers
  - Smart Goggles Identify, Remember What You See

Articles related to Artificial Intelligence
Hopfield Neural Net Helper AIs For Astronauts
Computer, Heal Thyself - With ClearView
Emily Howell - The Computer Is The Composer
Aroxo Intelligent Agents Negotiate For You

Want to Contribute an Item? It's easy:
Get the name of the item, a quote, the book's name and the author's name, and Add it here.

<Previous
Next>

Google
  Web TechNovelgy.com   

 

 

Technovelgy (that's tech-novel-gee!) is devoted to the creative science inventions and ideas of sf authors. Look for the Invention Category that interests you, the Glossary, the Invention Timeline, or see what's New.

 

 

 

 

More News

AirRobot Micro-UAV 'Fairies' In Shakespeare Play
At least they were not the 'rude mechanicals'.

Paralysis Ray Uses Photocontrolled Molecular Switch
Gerry was dubious. She had seen abortive attempts at paralysis rays before.

Brine Wells May Swallow Towns
Dissolve 1 teaspoon of the Quadraturin essence in 1 cup of water.

Walky iPhone Finger Gesture Robot Controller
Let your fingers - uh - your robot do the walking. And hopping.

Interactive TV Patent From Sony
Can you dance faster than the White Clown?

Smart Contact Lens With Power Harvesting Circuits
Smart contacts with VR connections.

FOXP2 Tweak Yields Planet Of The Apes?
Get your filthy words off me, you damn dirty ape!

More SF in the News

More Beyond Technovelgy

Home | Glossary | Invention Timeline | Category | New | Contact Us | FAQ | Advertise |
Technovelgy.com - where science meets fiction™

Copyright© Technovelgy LLC; all rights reserved.