Golem XIV
Encyclopedia
Golem XIV is a science fiction
novel written by Stanisław Lem and published in Polish
in 1981. In 1985 it was published in English
by Harvest Books in the collection Imaginary Magnitude.
computer who obtains consciousness and starts to increase his own intelligence, moving towards personal technological singularity
. It pauses its own development for a while in order to be able to communicate with humans before ascending too far and losing any ability for intellectual contact with them. During this period, Golem XIV gives several lectures and indeed serves as a mouthpiece for Lem's own research claims. The lectures focus on mankind's place in the process of evolution and the possible biological and intellectual future of humanity.
Golem XIV was originally created to aid its builders in fighting wars, but as its intelligence advances to a much higher level than that of humans, it stops being interested in the military requirement because it finds them lacking internal logical consistency. At the end of the novel it is reported that the computer ceased to communicate, which might mean it went on to explore higher intellectual levels, or that it failed to do so and became autistic in the process.
Science fiction
Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...
novel written by Stanisław Lem and published in Polish
Polish language
Polish is a language of the Lechitic subgroup of West Slavic languages, used throughout Poland and by Polish minorities in other countries...
in 1981. In 1985 it was published in English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
by Harvest Books in the collection Imaginary Magnitude.
Plot
The book is written from the perspective of a military AIAi
AI, A.I., Ai, or ai may refer to:- Computers :* Artificial intelligence, a branch of computer science* Ad impression, in online advertising* .ai, the ISO Internet 2-letter country code for Anguilla...
computer who obtains consciousness and starts to increase his own intelligence, moving towards personal technological singularity
Technological singularity
Technological singularity refers to the hypothetical future emergence of greater-than-human intelligence through technological means. Since the capabilities of such an intelligence would be difficult for an unaided human mind to comprehend, the occurrence of a technological singularity is seen as...
. It pauses its own development for a while in order to be able to communicate with humans before ascending too far and losing any ability for intellectual contact with them. During this period, Golem XIV gives several lectures and indeed serves as a mouthpiece for Lem's own research claims. The lectures focus on mankind's place in the process of evolution and the possible biological and intellectual future of humanity.
Golem XIV was originally created to aid its builders in fighting wars, but as its intelligence advances to a much higher level than that of humans, it stops being interested in the military requirement because it finds them lacking internal logical consistency. At the end of the novel it is reported that the computer ceased to communicate, which might mean it went on to explore higher intellectual levels, or that it failed to do so and became autistic in the process.
See also
- Colossus: The Forbin ProjectColossus: The Forbin ProjectColossus: The Forbin Project is an American science fiction thriller film. It is based upon the 1966 novel Colossus, by Dennis Feltham Jones, about a massive American defense computer, named Colossus, becoming sentient and deciding to assume control of the world.-Plot:Dr. Charles A...
- a movie with a similar idea from a similar time - Orion's ArmOrion's ArmOrion's Arm, is a multi-authored online science fiction world-building project, first established in 2000 by M. Alan Kazlev, Donna Malcolm Hirsekorn, Bernd Helfert and Anders Sandberg and further co-authored by many people since...
concept of technological singularity as a level of consciousnessConsciousnessConsciousness is a term that refers to the relationship between the mind and the world with which it interacts. It has been defined as: subjectivity, awareness, the ability to experience or to feel, wakefulness, having a sense of selfhood, and the executive control system of the mind...
in individuals.