Product details
- ISBN 9798216370666
- Dimensions: 140 x 216mm
- Publication Date: 03 Sep 2026
- Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing Plc
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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A fascinating exploration of how our understanding of artificial intelligence has evolved across centuries as depicted through the stories and media we create.
Humans have always dreamed of creating intelligent life. From the earliest legends of Talos to the droids of Star Wars, artificial beings stalk our culture. Today, we routinely interact with computers and AI is a buzzword that dominates headlines and raises record-breaking Silicon Valley investment. As the power and influence of machines continue to grow, it is time to examine our relationship with computers and machine life based on 3,000 years of stories.
Myth-Made Machines: The Stories Behind Artificial Intelligence explores humanity’s complex relationship with artificial intelligence through the lens of our cultural imagination. From ancient myths of automata to today’s disruptive technologies, this book traces AI’s evolution in our collective consciousness. The narrative weaves through centuries of literature, film, and philosophical thought, examining what people believe about the machines that will assist—or perhaps replace—them. Organized historically, it explores how Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein, Fritz Lang’s Metropolis, and contemporary works like The Matrix and Black Mirror have shaped our hopes and fears about machine intelligence, even as we embrace the likes of ChatGPT in the workplace.
Dave Bradley and Kelly Vero highlight how science fiction has reflected and influenced real-world AI development and how our cultural depictions align with current technological trends—or diverge from them. As we stand on the brink of an AI revolution, the authors critically examine our past through the lens of prose, poetry, philosophy, and film and invite readers to contemplate the possibilities and challenges that lie ahead. Blending cultural analysis, literary criticism, and technological insight, Myth-Made Machines is a fascinating read for anyone curious about the interplay between technology and culture.
Dave Bradley has worked in the media for nearly 30 years as a magazine and online journalist, writer, editor, and event host and as a senior manager and consultant. He has written and edited newsstand publications including PC Format, Planet PC, Microsoft Windows: The Official Magazine, SFX, Total Film, Comic Heroes, and more, and has written and published for online publications, including GamesRadar+, Pocket Gamer, PC Games Insider, Crime Fiction Lover, and more. He lives in Bath, United Kingdom.
Kelly Vero has worked in video games and technology for 30 years, from programming to senior management, working on titles including Tomb Raider, Halo series, Transformers series, and Subway Surfers. Vero is an international keynote speaker and leading gamification and metaverse thought leader, regularly featured in tech lists and future lists such as Forbes’ 100 Women of the Future, an award-winning educator, and an award-nominated and bestselling author whose nonfiction works include Breaking Through Bytes: Women Shaping the Digital World, and From Pixels to Portals: How Video Games Made the Metaverse. She lives in Zurich, Switzerland.
