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New Writing
The International Journal for the Practice and Theory of Creative Writing
Volume 20, 2023 - Issue 1
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Articles

Strange and familiar: robot love and artificial intelligence in science fiction theatre script writing: a response to the imminent Technological Singularity

Pages 111-120 | Received 03 Aug 2021, Accepted 14 Nov 2021, Published online: 21 Dec 2021
 

ABSTRACT

This article reflects on my process in script-writing responses to the threat of Artificial Superintelligence ending the Anthropocene. This point is often theoretically termed Technological Singularity, a hypothesised extinction point caused by uncontrolled and irreversible technological acceleration. While scholars debate the timing and existential effect of such Technological Singularity, my creative research positions human–robot relationships as the key to surviving super intelligent machines’ apocalyptic potential. This script-writing innovation into representations of Technological Singularity is based on research on intimate emotions between humans and technology, in particular within the fields of Lovotics and Affective Computing. Combining this research with the defamiliarising science fiction strategy of cognitive estrangement, I have produced a science fiction theatre script. Unlike the more common Terminator-style-scripted responses, my work significantly differs in its ‘Make Love, Not War’ positioning.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Richard Finn

Richard Finn is a published author and has written copy across various medians including script writing for film and theatre, academic research, magazine articles, children's stories, grant applications, and press releases. He also writes songs on his battered old six string. For the past 4 years he has squeezed in writing contracts between his PhD studies and duties as a stay-at-home-dad.

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