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
"...science fiction is sort of like a sociological genome. It's a huge range of possible futures, most of them useless; some vital. You never really know in advance."
- Peter Watts
 |
| Construct | ||
| A stored version of a person's particular skills and personal approaches to problems. |
One of the greatest hackers in the novel Neuromancer is a man named McCoy Pauley, also known at the Dixie Flatline. Unfortunately, Pauley was dead at the time of the novel; his skills were available in the form of a construct, an artificial intelligence in the shape of this man's skills.
| Molly had gone back to the loft hours ago, the Flatline's construct in her green bag, and Case had been drinking steadily ever since. It was disturbing to think of the Flatline as a construct, a hardwired ROM cassette replicating a dead man's skills, obsessions, knee-jerk responses. |
| From Neuromancer,
by William Gibson. Published by Phantasia Press in 1984 Additional resources -
|
Pauley got his name by his remarkable capacity to persevere despite counter intrusion programs that could actually cause seizures and death. He flatlined on his EEG, and showed Case (the protagonist of the novel) the tapes. "Boy, I was daid."
For an elaborated (and very elegant) version of something very similar, see recorded personality, from Gibson's Mona Lisa Overdrive. See also the Neuro-netsukes from Rim (1994) by Alexander Besher.
Comment/Join this discussion ( 0 ) | RSS/XML | Blog This |
Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from Neuromancer
More Ideas
and Technology by William Gibson
Tech news articles related to Neuromancer
Tech news articles related to works by William Gibson
Construct-related
news articles:
- Roadside LED Signs May Not Be Believed
- Digital Immortality For Your Personality
- Dadbot Digital Immortality
| A.I. Jesus Proclaims Machine Gospel |
| Tesla Autopilot: What Does An Autonomous Car See When It Looks At The Road? |
| Blurry Face Photos Made 60 Times Sharper |
| Clarke Was Right, Artificial Intelligences DO Dream |
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> |
|
|
|
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.
|
'With his motor in operation, he moves like a diver, head foremost...'
'I start twelve immensely strong wires--naked, not insulated --from a big dynamo...'
'All objects within my panoramic gaze trembled and vibrated like quick motion pictures...'
'Some clad in the insulated space-suits, with their transparent glassite helmets.'
'Its motion was so swift, complex, and perfect that at first I did not see it as a machine, in spite of its metallic glitter.'
Propulsion-assisted orbital decay, brought to you by SpaceX.
'He applied the tip of the instrument to the interior of the wound...'
'...what's to keep me from showing face, Man?'
'The Worldcraft bubble glittered, catching the light...'
'This is Elmer Schmitz, presenting to you the finalists in our Aviation Quiz Program...'
