While the far-fetched ideas brought up with imagination are shedding lights on Science Fiction Movies, occasionally ever-growing technology has been fuelled by these creative inspirations and imaginations. This article reflects on the findings of the data visualization project Dystopia-Utopia (www.dystopia-utopia.com) and investigates the existence of a common discourse that would stand out in ...

If science fiction is a genre, then attempts to think about the nature of science fiction will be affected by one’s understanding of what genres are. I shall examine two approaches to genre, one (genres as regions of conceptual space) dominant but inadequate, the other (genres as historical particulars) better, but only occasionally making itself seen. I shall then discuss several important, in...

In his paper, "Science Fiction, Forbidden Planet, and Shakespeare's The Tempest," Simone Caroti illustrates the way in which Cyril Hume and Fred Wilcox's 1956 science fiction movie Forbidden Planet -whose plot is inspired by Shakespeare's Tempest -reconfigures in Shakespeare's play. Caroti begins by defining the genre of science fiction and explaining its attraction for modern audiences. Follow...

How can we design good goals for arbitrarily intelligent agents? Reinforcement learning (RL) is a natural approach. Unfortunately, RL does not work well for generally intelligent agents, as RL agents are incentivised to shortcut the reward sensor for maximum reward – the so-called wireheading problem. In this paper we suggest an alternative to RL called value reinforcement learning (VRL). In VR...

The notion of ‘wireheading’, or direct reward centre stimulation of the brain, is a wellknown concept in neuroscience. In this paper, we examine the corresponding issue of reward (utility) function integrity in artificially intelligent machines. We survey the relevant literature and propose a number of potential solutions to ensure the integrity of our artificial assistants. Overall, we conclud...

This paper is an introduction to the short story and science fiction prototype The Machinery of Love and Grace. We cover a brief overview of the goals of science fiction prototyping as well as an example for how both Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud used a very similar process to achieve greatness in their work. Finally we look into the specific science behind the story The Machinery of Love a...