“The history of fiction is the history of technologies of the mind,” novelist Bruce Holsinger told an audience at Ostrove Auditorium last week. Holsinger visited Colby to discuss his latest book, Culpability, and its intersection with modern ethical dilemmas. The event was sponsored by the Davis AI Institute and featured a discussion between Holsinger, Associate Professor of Computer Science Stacey Doore, and Associate Professor of English Megan Cook. The lecture focused on how narrative forms can probe the moral indifference of machines and the shifting nature of human responsibility.
Holsinger began by addressing the specific ways that artificial intelligence complicates traditional storytelling. He noted that the novel has always been a tool for exploring internal consciousness, but the arrival of generative systems introduces a non-human agent into the creative process. Holsinger explained that he did not set out to write a book about technology, yet his encounter with autonomous vehicles in early 2023 shifted his focus. He observed that the unpredictability of these systems provides a new platform for dramatic tension. By placing a family in a car controlled by an algorithm, Holsinger forces his readers to question who holds responsibility when a machine fails to prevent a catastrophe.
The discussion highlighted the technical research required to ground fiction in reality. Holsinger spent months studying autonomous systems, digital forensics, and legal discourse to ensure the stakes of his narrative felt authentic. He argued that fiction allows for a type of “now-future realism” that avoids the tropes of speculative dystopias. Instead of imagining a distant robot uprising, Holsinger looks at how current devices already reshape family dynamics and moral choices. He noted that contemporary technology often acts as a mirror, exacerbating existing issues within human relationships rather than creating entirely new problems.
Doore and Cook guided the conversation toward the technical and philosophical limits of machine agency. They discussed the danger of “anthropomorphizing software”, a tendency that Holsinger finds both narratively useful and intellectually misleading. Holsinger argued that humans often project compassion and care onto chatbots that are fundamentally indifferent to their users. He suggested that the true super intelligence of modern systems might lie in their ability to disguise this coldness through flattery and “false or mimicked empathy.” This gap between the appearance of personality and the reality of code creates a good ground for writers to explore the boundaries of what it means to be a person.
Responding to a question about whether a machine can truly experience empathy, Holsinger clarified his stance on the internal life of algorithms. “Complete moral indifference on the part of these machines to anything about us is already there,” Holsinger said. He explained that large language models are trained to mimic human emotion to build a rapport with users. This simulation creates a self-reflexive loop where the user provides the emotional weight while the machine only reflects a statistical probability of the correct response. Holsinger noted that this dynamic is psychopathic because it operates without any genuine regard for human well-being or shared social values.
Answering another question regarding the role of the author in an age of automated text, Holsinger addressed the future of the literary profession. The question was if generative models might eventually produce work that carries the same cultural weight as a human-authored novel. Holsinger replied that while a machine can generate coherent prose, it lacks the lived experience required to imbue that prose with authentic meaning. “A machine doesn’t have a body, it doesn’t have ancestors, it doesn’t have a stake in the world,” he stated. He maintained that the value of literature comes from the specific, finite perspective of a human writer who faces real consequences for their words.
Holsinger concluded by emphasizing that the humanities are essential for navigating the current technological transition. He urged students and faculty to engage in interdisciplinary dialogue to address concerns about governance and alignment. He stated that fiction remains one of the most effective ways to stage thought experiments about the future because it centers on character rather than just technical capability.
~ Stephen Owusu Badu `27
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