First published 1995
Richard Powers arrives at the Center for Advanced Scientific Research as their new Humanist-in-Residence. He finds himself drawn into an ambitious experiment: teaching a computer system to master English literature well enough to pass comprehensive exams. The machine, which Powers helps develop, will compete directly against a human graduate student taking the same test. As Powers feeds the AI centuries of texts and watches it learn to analyze poetry and prose, he becomes invested in both its progress and the outcome of this unusual academic competition. The project forces him to question what literature means, how machines think, and whether artificial intelligence can truly understand the human experiences that drive great writing. Powers must confront his own relationship with language and learning while watching his digital pupil grow more sophisticated. The competition becomes personal as he develops feelings for both the technology he's creating and the student it's meant to surpass.
Genres: science-fiction, literary-fiction, artificial-intelligence, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: academic-rivalry, man-vs-machine
Setting: Center for Advanced Scientific Research
Period: 20th-century, 21st-century
329 pages · Hardcover · Farrar Straus & Giroux