Kazuo Ishiguro’s Klara and the Sun: An Optimistic Outlook of the Future | ||||
| مجلة کلية الآداب و العلوم الإنسانية جامعة قناة السويس | ||||
| Volume 7, Issue 51, October 2024, Page 165-190 PDF (235.19 K) | ||||
| Document Type: المقالة الأصلية | ||||
| DOI: 10.21608/jfhsc.2024.425559 | ||||
 View on SCiNiTO | ||||
| Author | ||||
| Rania Mohamed Abdel Latif Othman* | ||||
| Abstract | ||||
| Entitling the SF of the 1940s and 1950s as the Golden Era is not a value-free term, but it is promoted by a dedicated fan base and refers to a specific type of stories in which the protagonists follow up a strict plot arc and use scientific conventions to overcome hindrances. Another way of defining the period is to associate it with the tastes of John W. Campbell, the person most responsible for spreading ethical ideals about what this kind of literature should be like. Isaak Asimov is a prolific author best known as one of the great giants of Golden Age SF authors whose enduring and best-known tales involve robots. Welcoming accounts of artificial intelligence catastrophes undermines our faith that no challenge can be resolved with a combination of scientific knowledge, altruistic motives, and a proactive approach. What are the potential consequences if our well-intentioned ingenuity inadvertently leads to negative outcomes that impact us adversely? The conventional hierarchical structure of living beings, which positioned mankind at the apex of the natural order and the lowest in the supernatural realm, has been discarded. Instead, we now believe that our distinguishing characteristic is our innately superior cognitive ability or possession of a mind. If our cognitive abilities serve as the only determinant of our identity, what is our sense of self when artificial intelligence attains parity with human intelligence? Kazuo Ishiguro’s latest novel, Klara and the Sun (2021), facilitates our exploration of this inquiry. | ||||
| Keywords | ||||
| Asimov; Ishiguro; Mind; Robots; Science fiction | ||||
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