SF master Ken Liu’s first visit to Korea
“With the advancement of artificial intelligence (AI), there is a lot of concern that humans may soon be replaced. But what I’m interested in is that humans can tell stories that could not be told without AI. Isn’t this really an amazing and interesting topic. I use AI to dream about what new art humans can create.”
Novelist Ken Liu, one of the best science fiction masters of his time, said that many artists have negative views on AI, but the advent of AI has enriched the story of humans. “People often talk about technology threatening humans when they think about the future, but technology is also one of human nature,” Liu said at his first press conference in Korea at a conference house in Jung-gu, Seoul on the 15th. “It is difficult to understand humans without technology, and I think science fiction is a genre that expresses human nature through the subject of technology.”
Liu, a Chinese-American, is the first novelist to win all three major literary awards in science fiction and fantasy for his novel “Paper Zoo” (2018), the Hugo Award, the Nebuler Award, and the World Fantastic Literature Award. The history outside the artist is also unique. He graduated from Harvard University with a degree in English literature and law school, worked as a developer for startups and Microsoft, and once worked as a law firm lawyer. He is also the top translator who first introduced China’s science fiction “Three Body” to the English-speaking world last year, which drew global attention through the Netflix series.
In this regard, he said, “I was actually writing all the time while I was doing all this. After spending about 15 years like that, writing became a kind of work, more than that, and eventually changed my career, he said. “I’m very lucky and happy to be able to tell the story I want to tell and meet the readers who read it. I’ve received a letter from prison, and I’ve been very moved by the story of hope after reading my writing,” he said.
Liu emphasized that science fiction contains imaginary territory, but it is not intended to predict the future through fiction. “The purpose of what I’m trying to do as a SF writer is to talk and make modern myths,” he said. “So it’s inevitably accompanied by a story of machinery and technology, and it’s just to deal with it as a symbol.” When asked about his views on the future of the book 50 years later, he said, “I don’t know,” but added, “I don’t think we necessarily have to stick to any one form of media, and I don’t think there’s any reason to think that books will be forever because humans have always changed. Maybe we can find other alternatives that are much more meaningful than books,” he said.
