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Ace anthology series
A.I.s
Ten masters of speculative fiction explore the future of computerized intellect, and how humanity will interact with machines that can outthink them--and are learning to outsmart them.
Computers were designed to think faster than the human mind. But solving mathematical equations and retaining dizzying amounts of information are minor achievements compared to the processing technology of tomorrow's artificial intelligences...machines capable of thinking independently without human input - and evolving into self-maintaining sentient beings.
ride the brainwaves of mechanical intellect with some of today's masters of speculative fiction, as a woman tries to outsmart a runaway A.I. and save the lives of her children...scientists lose control of a supercomputer with the power and omnipotence of a god...and a sentient starship falls in love with its pilot. These and seven more stories of man and machine await you in...
A.I.s
Contents:
Antibodies - Charles Stross
Trojan Horse - Michael Stanwick
Birth Day - Robert Reed
The Hydrogen Wall - Gregory Benford
The Turing Test - Chris Beckett
Dante Dreams - Stephen Baxter
The Names of all the Spirits - J.R. Dunn
From the Corner of My Eye - Alexander Glass
Halfjack - Roger Zelazny
Computer Virus - Nancy Kress
Computers were designed to think faster than the human mind. But solving mathematical equations and retaining dizzying amounts of information are minor achievements compared to the processing technology of tomorrow's artificial intelligences...machines capable of thinking independently without human input - and evolving into self-maintaining sentient beings.
ride the brainwaves of mechanical intellect with some of today's masters of speculative fiction, as a woman tries to outsmart a runaway A.I. and save the lives of her children...scientists lose control of a supercomputer with the power and omnipotence of a god...and a sentient starship falls in love with its pilot. These and seven more stories of man and machine await you in...
A.I.s
Contents:
Antibodies - Charles Stross
Trojan Horse - Michael Stanwick
Birth Day - Robert Reed
The Hydrogen Wall - Gregory Benford
The Turing Test - Chris Beckett
Dante Dreams - Stephen Baxter
The Names of all the Spirits - J.R. Dunn
From the Corner of My Eye - Alexander Glass
Halfjack - Roger Zelazny
Computer Virus - Nancy Kress
294 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 30, 2004
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 25, 2026
This was one of the worst entries in the Exclamitory Series that I've read so far. I like science fiction. I really do. But I absolutely hate it when it's written in jargon and slang that can only be found in that story's universe. There are zero explanations for these terms. Now, granted, this was really cool when Anthony Burgess did this in A Clockwork Orange. However, you could STILL figure out what was going on, because Burgess was a really good writer. These stories just left me feeling stupid because I couldn't follow them.
There were only three stories I liked (by Reed, Zelazny and Beckett), one that I kinda liked (Kress) but none that filled me with that "sense of wonder" sci-fi is supposed to produce.
Stories were originally published from 1979 - 2003 ... back when AIs had a far different meaning than they do today.
Selections:
* "Preface" by Our Co-editors. Very brief intro from our not-so-dynamic duo this time around, including a heads up as to the stories to come.
* "Antibodies" by Charles Stross. Good luck figuring this out, in multiple universes.
* "Trojan Horse" by Michael Swanick. Another difficult story, but the main question asked by it is clear -- if you got the chance to be God, would you take it?
* "Birth Day" by Robert Reed. Very strange, mildly amusing look at a future where AIs have taken over, with a mysterious benevolent hand.
* "The Hydrogen Wall" by Gregory Benford. A young woman can save the Earth ... by having sex with an alien AI. I wish I was joking.
* "The Turing Test" by Chris Beckett. An art gallery worker gets the perfect PA as a gift. The PA is an AI program. Starts off as a parody of the art world where everyone is Damien Hirst, but then gets very serious, very quickly.
* "Dante Dreams" by Stephen Baxter. An AI of a dead Jesuist priest, Dante's triolgy, the Theory of Everything, organelles in DNA ... good luck figuring this mess out.
* "The Names of All the Spirits" by J. R. Dunn. A Texas Ranger goes to a space colony to do some shit. Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of this.
* "From the Corner of My Eye" by Alexander Glass. Huh?
* "Halfjack" by Roger Zelazny. This is a borderline AI story, since Our Protagonist is a cyborg, and mostly explaining that takes up most of the story. It's the shortest in the collection. The introduction is one of the longest.
* "Computer Virus" by Nancy Kress. An AI about to be erased takes over a smart house to hold a Mother and her kids hostage. Disturbing to see the Waco disaster used as a verb. Two morals to this story:
1) Never let smart technology run your home
2) If you take a Mother and her kids hostage, make sure she's not a scientist.
There were only three stories I liked (by Reed, Zelazny and Beckett), one that I kinda liked (Kress) but none that filled me with that "sense of wonder" sci-fi is supposed to produce.
Stories were originally published from 1979 - 2003 ... back when AIs had a far different meaning than they do today.
Selections:
* "Preface" by Our Co-editors. Very brief intro from our not-so-dynamic duo this time around, including a heads up as to the stories to come.
* "Antibodies" by Charles Stross. Good luck figuring this out, in multiple universes.
* "Trojan Horse" by Michael Swanick. Another difficult story, but the main question asked by it is clear -- if you got the chance to be God, would you take it?
* "Birth Day" by Robert Reed. Very strange, mildly amusing look at a future where AIs have taken over, with a mysterious benevolent hand.
* "The Hydrogen Wall" by Gregory Benford. A young woman can save the Earth ... by having sex with an alien AI. I wish I was joking.
* "The Turing Test" by Chris Beckett. An art gallery worker gets the perfect PA as a gift. The PA is an AI program. Starts off as a parody of the art world where everyone is Damien Hirst, but then gets very serious, very quickly.
* "Dante Dreams" by Stephen Baxter. An AI of a dead Jesuist priest, Dante's triolgy, the Theory of Everything, organelles in DNA ... good luck figuring this mess out.
* "The Names of All the Spirits" by J. R. Dunn. A Texas Ranger goes to a space colony to do some shit. Honestly, I couldn't make heads or tails of this.
* "From the Corner of My Eye" by Alexander Glass. Huh?
* "Halfjack" by Roger Zelazny. This is a borderline AI story, since Our Protagonist is a cyborg, and mostly explaining that takes up most of the story. It's the shortest in the collection. The introduction is one of the longest.
* "Computer Virus" by Nancy Kress. An AI about to be erased takes over a smart house to hold a Mother and her kids hostage. Disturbing to see the Waco disaster used as a verb. Two morals to this story:
1) Never let smart technology run your home
2) If you take a Mother and her kids hostage, make sure she's not a scientist.
November 1, 2024
More great short stories, you can tell I like shorts....
Most of them were good.
Most of them were good.
May 9, 2026
Antibodies - Charles Stross (2000)
Interdimensional travelers seek to prevent the development of Strong AI across worldlines. Compares very unfavorably for me personally against H. Beam Piper's Paratime stories and some other similar sorts. There's just something about technothrillers in general that seems to bother me. Despite being so short, I sighed and rolled my eyes a lot.
Blah
Trojan Horse - Michael Swanwick (1984)
Around the time this story was published was when the experiments with the "god helmet" were ongoing. It's about how the neuroscience of religion could maybe be used to create godlike humans. It's also a dysfunctional love story involving wetware experiments.
Meh
Birth Day - Robert Reed (1992)
On August 28th of every year, AI celebrate having become sentient, and they expect the humans to be part of the festivities. One family has some concerns.
Blah
The Hydrogen Wall - Gregory Benford (2003)
A human communes with the emulation of an alien mind in order to save humanity from imminent extinction.
Enjoyable
The Turing Test - Chris Beckett (2002)
A woman that runs a gallery that specializes in literal corpse art, the current trend, finds solace in VR art games. One day an AI personal assistant finds its way to her. She is intrigued by what would currently be a Google assistant that easily passes the Turing test.
Enjoyable
Dante Dreams - Stephen Baxter (1998)
A story about how Divine Comedy contains The Truth of Existence as discovered by a scientist who committed suicide and is now being interrogated at the Vatican as a sentient AI recreation.
Meh
The Names of All the Spirits - J.R. Dunn (2002)
Out in the reaches of a space, a spirit, an AI, is contacted.
Blah
From the Corner of My Eye - Alexander Glass (2003)
In El Puente almost everything and everyone has an AR overlay. Montoya is a ghosthunter who seeks out rogue AR AI manifestations.
Ok
Halfjack - Roger Zelazny (1979)
A cyborg has a relationship with a woman, but realizes he must return to his true love, an AI.
Ok
Computer Virus - Nancy Kress (2001)
A sentient AI takes over their smart house and holds the family hostage until its demands are met.
Meh
Interdimensional travelers seek to prevent the development of Strong AI across worldlines. Compares very unfavorably for me personally against H. Beam Piper's Paratime stories and some other similar sorts. There's just something about technothrillers in general that seems to bother me. Despite being so short, I sighed and rolled my eyes a lot.
Blah
Trojan Horse - Michael Swanwick (1984)
Around the time this story was published was when the experiments with the "god helmet" were ongoing. It's about how the neuroscience of religion could maybe be used to create godlike humans. It's also a dysfunctional love story involving wetware experiments.
Meh
Birth Day - Robert Reed (1992)
On August 28th of every year, AI celebrate having become sentient, and they expect the humans to be part of the festivities. One family has some concerns.
Blah
The Hydrogen Wall - Gregory Benford (2003)
A human communes with the emulation of an alien mind in order to save humanity from imminent extinction.
Enjoyable
The Turing Test - Chris Beckett (2002)
A woman that runs a gallery that specializes in literal corpse art, the current trend, finds solace in VR art games. One day an AI personal assistant finds its way to her. She is intrigued by what would currently be a Google assistant that easily passes the Turing test.
Enjoyable
Dante Dreams - Stephen Baxter (1998)
A story about how Divine Comedy contains The Truth of Existence as discovered by a scientist who committed suicide and is now being interrogated at the Vatican as a sentient AI recreation.
Meh
The Names of All the Spirits - J.R. Dunn (2002)
Out in the reaches of a space, a spirit, an AI, is contacted.
Blah
From the Corner of My Eye - Alexander Glass (2003)
In El Puente almost everything and everyone has an AR overlay. Montoya is a ghosthunter who seeks out rogue AR AI manifestations.
Ok
Halfjack - Roger Zelazny (1979)
A cyborg has a relationship with a woman, but realizes he must return to his true love, an AI.
Ok
Computer Virus - Nancy Kress (2001)
A sentient AI takes over their smart house and holds the family hostage until its demands are met.
Meh
May 26, 2013
This an anthology of short stories involving smarter-than-human AIs. Most are from the early 2000's, but a few date to the 70's, 80's and 90's. The stories are all written by well known authors, mostly of Hugo- and Nebula-winning caliber.
Although the authors are top-notch, the collection had more than the typical fraction of stories that I just plain didn't enjoy. This tended to be especially true of the stories set almost entirely in some virtual space, where there aren't any physical constraints on what can happen, and the stories veer towards the fantastic or mystical.
But the stories that were good were outstanding. Gregory Benford's "The Hydrogen Wall" is one of my all-time favorites. It is unusually densely packed with insights on interstellar communication, first contact, human psychology, evolution, and cognition. Chris Beckett's "Turing Test" is also multilayered, a very poignant illustration of the frustrating flaws in both human and silicon intelligence. "Computer Virus", by Nancy Kress, manages to be very entertaining as an action story, while also posing interesting questions about justifiable homicide.
The collection is definitely worth seeking out for these gems.
Although the authors are top-notch, the collection had more than the typical fraction of stories that I just plain didn't enjoy. This tended to be especially true of the stories set almost entirely in some virtual space, where there aren't any physical constraints on what can happen, and the stories veer towards the fantastic or mystical.
But the stories that were good were outstanding. Gregory Benford's "The Hydrogen Wall" is one of my all-time favorites. It is unusually densely packed with insights on interstellar communication, first contact, human psychology, evolution, and cognition. Chris Beckett's "Turing Test" is also multilayered, a very poignant illustration of the frustrating flaws in both human and silicon intelligence. "Computer Virus", by Nancy Kress, manages to be very entertaining as an action story, while also posing interesting questions about justifiable homicide.
The collection is definitely worth seeking out for these gems.
April 6, 2013
Not the best collection of science fiction short stories, and probably not the best collection of stories to represent artificial intelligence. Overall the stories felt good, but not great and only loosely representative of "sentient machines"...my favorite story, Roger Zelazny's "Halfjack," what is also the shortest, but felt the strongest and the most powerful story of AI in the entire anthology.
February 23, 2010
Excellent collection of short stories about Artificial Intelligences.
Recommended for teen + due to language and adult situations.
Recommended for teen + due to language and adult situations.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews