‘There is no inevitable dystopia’: Jeanette Winterson on AI and the future of humanity
Why This Matters
Key context: <p>The author believes we are at a turning point as a species – and even in the shadow of big tech it’s up to us how we want to proceed<strong><br></strong></p><p>‘I am a storyteller by trade,” writes Jeanette Winterson on the first page of her 2021 book <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2021/jul/23/12-bytes-by-jeanette-winterson-review-how-we-got-here-and-where-we-might-go-next">12 Bytes</a>, an idiosyncratic and thought-provoking series of essays in which she considered just how artificial intelligence might change everything about our lives. “And I know everything we do is a fiction until it’s a fact: the dream of flying, the dream of space travel, the dream of speaking to someone instantly, across time and space, the dream of not dying – or of returning.”</p><p>She had already been thinking about our possible futures for at least 15 years – her 2007 novel, The Stone Gods, for instance, imagined a post-climate catastrophe world populated by robots and humans who never age, while 12 Bytes was preceded by <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2019/may/24/frankissstein-jeanette-winterson-review">Frankisstein: A Love Story</a>, which alternates a recreation of the summer Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein with a trans doctor’s travels among present-day cryogenecists and AI-enabled robots.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/books/2026/oct/28/no-inevitable-dystopia-jeanette-winterson-ai-future-of-humanity">Continue reading...</a> This development from The Guardian highlights ongoing changes in the sector.
The author believes we are at a turning point as a species – and even in the shadow of big tech it’s up to us how we want to proceed‘I am a storyteller by trade,” writes Jeanette Winterson on the first page of her 2021 book 12 Bytes, an idiosyncratic and thought-provoking series of essays in which she considered just how artificial intelligence might change everything about our lives. “And I know everything we do is a fiction until it’s a fact: the dream of flying, the dream of space travel, the dream of speaking to someone instantly, across time and space, the dream of not dying – or of returning.”She had already been thinking about our possible futures for at least 15 years – her 2007 novel, The Stone Gods, for instance, imagined a post-climate catastrophe world populated by robots and humans who never age, while 12 Bytes was preceded by Frankisstein: A Love Story, which alternates a recreation of the summer Mary Shelley wrote Frankenstein with a trans doctor’s travels among present-day cryogenecists and AI-enabled robots. Continue reading...
Curation & Context
This page summarizes a public news report from The Guardian. Global News Hub provides the "Why This Matters" takeaway using editorial insights and AI curation to give readers rapid, high-value context before they click through to read the full article.