The Feeling of Power, a 1958 short story by Isaac Asimov

In a futuristic society where humans rely on AI for everything, a man rediscovers arithmetic and trains himself to do multiplications. At first, politicians write off “human math” as a useless parlor trick. But a military advisor sees its value—if humans understand calculations, they can replace expensive computers on warships.

Siobhan Carroll, associate professor of English and science fiction author, appreciates how this story asks humanity to assess its values. 

"If our society is only concerned with profits, then we may end up sacrificing human life and well-being no matter what technology we use," she says. "If we want to live in a society that values human life—a society where a self-driving car will damage itself rather than run over a child, for example—then we need to work at building those principles into our technology from the beginning."

Her, a 2013 film by Spike Jonze

Thomas Leitch, film scholar and Unidel Andrew B. Kirkpatrick Jr. Chair in Writing, chose this film about lonely Theodore, played by Joaquin Phoenix, who falls in love with his new computer operating system, voiced by Scarlett Johansson.

The main character is so needy and hungry for friendship, guidance and intimacy that he’s a perfect victim for AI, suggesting that if humans submit to the control of AI, it’ll be because we’re specifically looking to relinquish control of our lives to a higher power more capable of running them.

Also, anyone who doubts that life imitates art should remember Scarlett Johansson’s threat to sue Sam Altman, the CEO of Open AI, for allegedly modeling the voice of Sky, one of its five ChatGPT chatbot avatars, on hers.

Says Leitch: “People wondering how long it is before they lose control of their own products, qualities, and identities to AI will doubtless conclude: You can’t make this stuff up.”

Frankenstein, the 1818 classic by Mary Shelley

You know the story: A young scientist creates a monstrous being in an unorthodox experiment. When the scientist runs away from his creation in horror, the rejected monster turns murderous. 

Cat Champney, a doctoral student focused on Gothic fiction, chose this book for its apt warning.

"It’s important to remember that Frankenstein’s monster was not all bad—it was Victor Frankenstein who made the monster and then neglected it, ashamed and afraid of the consequences of his own actions," says Champney. "If we, as academics and students, are accountable for our decisions and the knowledge we produce (and pay attention to ethics!), we can likely avoid that knowledge spiraling entirely out of control."

I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream, a 1967 short story by Harlan Ellison

The title shares its name with the final sentence of the story, a line that doctoral student Raquel Hollman finds fascinating. 

"The story ends with the narrator yearning to express himself while so many folks in this cultural moment are willing to give up that gift for the sake of convenience," says Hollman, who is studying the speculative arts.

In Ellison's story, five people, the last survivors of humanity, are taken prisoner by a powerful supercomputer who torments them as revenge for its own creation. For Hollman, the message is to engage with AI as a utility rather than allowing it to speak and think for us.

Ancillary Justice, a 2013 novel by Ann Leckie

In outer space thousands of years from now, AIs control human bodies to use as soldiers. The book is less interested in AI as a coming reality and more interested in AI as a framework for exploring cultural and philosophical questions about the human condition.  

That question is one that interests Ed Larkin, English professor who studies the intersection of literature and politics.

"These works show us that thinking about AI reflects unexamined assumptions about race, class, and gender, particularly when the most common role for AIs is as some form of (ostensibly) cheap labor.”