In the last decade, artificial intelligence (AI) has grown exponentially. This raises different emotions from excitement, to indifference, to fear. Now feels as good a time as ever to revisit the 1967 classic short story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” by Harlan Ellison. The plot is based on a dystopian reality where a supercomputer has gotten rid of all mankind, except for five people, who it traps inside its body for 109 years. This book does have mature and disturbing content, but this summary (some spoilers included) will avoid those parts.
The characters in this book are Gorrister, Nimdok, Ellen, Benny and Ted. Benny was a handsome, intelligent professor, but after meeting the supercomputer, his physical form had been mutated into an apelike creature with a mind akin. Gorrister was an activist, a peace-marcher who looked to the future. Now he was indifferent, letting nothing bother him anymore. Not much is known of Ellen, Ted and Nimdok, as their backstories aren’t described in the book so much as they are the 1995 video game. What is known is that Ted is the perspective we see through, Ellen is the only woman and optimist of the group, and Nimdok is not the character’s actual name, and no one knows anything about him.
The supercomputer they reside inside is called AM, which stood for a few things over the years, from Allied Mastercomputer, to Adaptive Manipulator, to just AM after it gained sentience. The name AM came from the phrase cogito ergo sum, which means I think therefore I am. AM was created because the Cold War transformed into World War III and kept escalating until humans created computers to handle the war. There were different AMs: the American AM, the Russian AM and the Chinese AM, which spanned across the globe and eventually combined when it gained consciousness.
The story follows five individuals as they struggle to survive against AM’s wrath on their journey to get canned goods in an ice cave. On the way, Benny tries to escape to the surface and is struck down by AM who blinds him. They rested in a cave, and Gorrister told Benny the origin of AM, before a creature scared Ted away from the others. As they continued, they were attacked by a bird creature which caused a windstorm, hurting them all. They were given the choice to attack the bird but had no suitable weapons to do so. When they do get to the cave with the canned goods, they realize they have no utensils to open the cans, and pandemonium breaks loose.
The story ends with a disheartening twist, which won’t be spoiled here. This book is not for the faint of heart and is meant to be serious commentary on how AI can be catastrophic if left unchecked. It is a short read for those who want to check it out.
