Animism

The short story explores how life might change in the future when all our smart devices have LLM capabilities and seem to be alive. The hero is an elderly man who is spending the weekend with his three-year-old great grandson. With the story framed from the point of view of the old man, the tone is somber; the character is “timesick,” nostalgic for the old days. The child, however, embraces the new world where every thing is alive and this seems to have helped the boy develop empathy for everything. The story take place in a time when what defines a person as uniquely human is changing. The contribution comes from two leading thinkers in the filed of transhuman ethics. The method we follow in this: I read my co-author's research papers; we talk about various advances in science. He suggests the topic or the basic plot line; I write the story; and he adds a few lines and edits others. “Animism” is the first of four stories we have written together

Animism · Empathy · HERO · Ethics and Social Impacts of AI · Innovative Human-Technology Interaction · Neuroethics, Human Enhancement, Biomedical Innovations