Speculative Fact #345: Beyond Silicon – Pimp My AI

Ever since computers became tasked with more complicated feats, futurists and speculative fiction writers have imagined new ways to use them. As we stare into the future we wonder about artificial intelligence and the looming technological “singularity.”
Writers often make use of a literary McGuffin called computronium - a kind of programmable matter that could be used to build newer and more powerful computers. This hypothetical material might replace the silicon in processors, the memory disks and cards– the entire computer itself could be composed of the stuff.  As research looks at the possibility of quantum computers, attention is given to a curious particle called an anyon - a particle that has “memory.” In theory a mass of the particles could collectively accumulate memory and computing capacity.
In stories such as I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream by Harlan Ellison, a powerful computer is the antagonist. In stories like The Last Question by Isaac Asimov, a computer is an ostensible ally. The Deep Though supercomputer in Douglas Adams’ The Hitchhikers Guide to The Galaxy is a humorous take on the old trope of the powerful, artificially intelligent supercomputer. Whatever version best suits your story, a fresh, flashing sounding name with some cutting edge science behind it might be just the thing to spice it up.

Jonathan Hernandez

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