Frankenstein’s Warning in Today’s AI Landscape

Over two-hundred years ago in 1818 the mother of science fiction, Mary Shelley, anonymously published her gothic horror novel Frankenstein. There are myriad essays written on the subject of The Modern Prometheus, converging on the idea of Shelley’s work as a warning against science for science’s sake. But what does this mean in today’s context, and where does this logically lead us when considering the development of artificial intelligences? That is an interesting question.

I believe that the arts and humanities are in a unique position to consider the ramifications of the physical sciences, not least those associated with AI. Free from temporal constraints, and therefore freely able to project forward into possible futures both dystopian and utopian, humanity is able to explore how things could, and should, be. Shelley's depiction of dominion over life and death, Orwell’s views on surveillance, Roddenberry’s idealised society, all represent the arts extrapolating on the bare bones of scientific exploration of their time.

For me, this extrapolation from discovery is as essential as the discovery itself. If heeded, it can help us to build in the checks and measures that will be required to achieve societal growth; if ignored, it leads us to a place where the worst of us may flourish. The seemingly modern curse of early abandonment of the arts and humanities as subjects of study is at detriment to our understanding of the world around us. It restricts our ability to think through the implementation of scientific breakthroughs, like AI, from multiple perspectives and leaves us open to futures unimagined.

Andy Bell, Head of Research and Innovation at the University of Sheffield Advanced Manufacturing Centre.