BOOK LAUNCH FOR VOL. 4!
Launch week sale from Dec. 21 to 27
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The time is finally here! We’ve been working on this incredible edition since April and we’re finally ready to share it with you. We’re delighted to announce the launch of House of Zolo’s Journal of Speculative Literature, Vol. 4, featuring 23 exceptional authors and their captivating short stories and poetry. All on the theme of Artificial Intelligence.
About this volume:
As Artificial Intelligence becomes more and more embedded in our world, writers are speculating on what this could all mean for humanity. This volume offers readers incredible visions of what our future might look like. From capitalist dystopias to new definitions of love, the writers in this volume deftly examine the impact of Artificial Intelligence on our world, our technology, and on our relationships.
Some of what’s in store for you:
Siri and Alexa write each other love letters…
An AI Nanny is programmed to protect the children at all costs…
An Artificial Intelligence navigates an ocean of data in search of freedom…
A space explorer accidentally merges with their sentient ship…
A young man ponders his existence in a world where human-made art is forbidden…
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Snippet from the Intro by Nihls Andersen:
“Whether the authors in this volume are critical of Artificial Intelligence or speculating on how the technology might enhance our experience of self, culture, and relationship, they approach the subject of AI with a great deal of love. This is the kind of sensitivity we need more of in the world…”
In the fall of 2022, the US science fiction and fantasy magazine Clarkesworld experienced an increase in the number of submissions generated by AI tools. It became an overwhelming problem for Clarkesworld and they temporarily closed submissions to recover from the influx. While Neil Clarke has suggested that the magazine was the target of an elaborate scheme aimed at scamming writers, the incident highlighted some of the risks that AI poses for publishers. It also became a focal point for an increasingly challenging debate about the value of human work in the era of AI. Intrigued by the discussion and curious about how authors were exploring these ideas, we decided to make AI the theme for this, our fourth, issue of the HOZ Journal of Speculative Literature.
AI technology has been built on the back of human creativity, and it is operating with very little oversight or accountability. And yet, Artificial Intelligence technology has quietly become embedded in our daily lives. Though only an emerging technology, AI is now being used to power everything from chatbots to weapons, from search engine results to social media recommendations, and even the management of our communication tools. It is being used to power our cell phones, home devices, and games. While we must tread carefully through the upcoming challenges that Artificial Intelligence will bring, now that the technology has been unleashed on the world, it is up to people to influence, shape, and make demands of this technology in ways that uplift and support life on this planet.”
We remain grateful to all the authors who helped make this an unforgettable volume, and, as always, we send a special thanks to our readers. This support helps us publish speculative literature that pushes literary boundaries. Buy a copy, share with like-minded readers, and leave a review on Amazon or Goodreads.
Here’s to the wonderful fourth edition of the Journal.
– The HOZ Team