To celebrate the launch of Uncanny Valley: A Science Fiction Anthology we asked our authors four simple questions.
P. R. O’Leary’s short story, “Traditional Human Gifts” is both a light read and moving short story about an AI and its creator – and weapons of mass destruction. You can read it here or in our anthology.
What was the inspiration behind your short story?
Traditional Human Gifts started as a writing exercise gone rogue. The exercise itself led me to the artificial intelligence taking over the world, but we’ve all seen that before. I wanted to look at it from a new angle. What would be an interesting goal for an intelligence of that scale? And how would the person that destroyed something so close to human be affected?
What does science fiction mean to you?
Science Fiction is fantasy that can actually come true.
What’s your favorite science fiction artwork, book, or film?
Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood. It’s full of romance and adventure and a horrible vision of the future that somehow has a silver lining.
Androids or Aliens?
Aliens! The last thing we need to do is create beings in our image. That never ends well.
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