A few years ago I used an algorithm to help me write a science fiction story. Adam Hammond, an English professor, and Julian Brooke, a computer scientist, had created a program called SciFiQ, and I provided them with 50 of my favorite pieces of science fiction to feed into their algorithm. In return, SciFiQ gave me a set of instructions on the story’s plot. As I typed into its web-based interface, the program showed how closely my writing measured up against the 50 stories according to various criteria.
Our goal in that first experiment was modest: to see if algorithms could be an aid to creativity. Would the process make stories that were just generically consistent? Could an algorithm generate its own distinct style or narrative ideas? Would the resulting story be recognizable as science fiction at all?
he answer to all these questions was yes. The resulting story—“Twinkle Twinkle,” published in Wired— not only looked and felt like a science fiction story. It also, to my surprise, contained an original narrative idea.