Post-Singularity Fiction and the Struggling SF Writer

Posted on September 14, 2004

If technological advances continue at their current pace (and we're not all blown up by terrorists), some theorists believe that artificial intelligence will reach such a point that we will actually have created a "superhuman" intelligence. When we reach this tipping point or Singularity, then our society will change so quickly and so greatly that our future civilization will be as different from our lives in 2004 as our lives today are from that of someone who lived in the Stone Age. This theory has spawned an entire new subgenre of SF, called Post-Singularity Fiction.

Popular Science has a fascinating article about authors such as Cory Doctorow and Charles Stross who are writing Post-Singularity fiction, e.g., their work attempts to portray what the future will really be like. It's a tough thing to do, because one must predict future advances in science, but also in human development, societal changes, human rights issues and the like. So, if you're writing SF, it's probably time to step up the research time into everything from politics to superconductors. Or, you could always switch to fantasy where the research and writing commitment is just as heavy, but you get to make up all the rules.