‘If we don’t like it, we’ll kill it. If we love it, we’ll marry it’: We were dreaming about ChatGPT thousands of years before it existed — here's how ancient myths shaped the AI we’re building today
The authors of Myth-Made Machines explain how ancient myths and science fiction shaped our hopes and fears about today’s AI.
The book Myth-Made Machines: The Stories Behind Artificial Intelligence explores humanity's fascination with creating thinking machines and artificial life, tracing these ideas through mythology, literature, movies and television. Authors Dave Bradley and Kelly Vero argue that these stories have not only predicted AI but also shaped how we talk about it, what we expect from it and the technology people have built.
The authors explore ancient Greek stories featuring mechanical servants created by god Hephaestus and Jewish folklore's Golem, as well as 18th-century examples like Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels. They also discuss the term "artificial intelligence" as it emerged in the 1950s, and its influence on TV and film, including early Twilight Zone and Star Trek episodes.
Authors discuss their favorite AI/robot characters and how science fiction has influenced the development of modern AI, citing studies showing that 93% of UK astronomers enjoy science fiction and 69% attribute its influence to their career choices.
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