Artifice and Intelligence by Tim Pratt

“Artifice and Intelligence” is a 2007 science fiction short story by Tim Pratt. It is about an unorthodox artificial intelligence designer, a video game programmer and a recently converted pagan woman who are called into action to help an Indian sentient computer network do battle against the world’s malicious software.

Non-Spoiler Summary In A Nutshell:

“Artifice and Intelligence” follows the (eventually) intertwined lives of three very unique individuals. There is Edgar, a man who is trying to coax the spirit of John Wilkes Booth into an acceptable form of AI replacement, Pramesh, a former computer programmer who has been coerced into spending all his time with a sentient network know as Saraswati, and Rayvenn Moongold Stonewolf, a recent convert to paganism who is trying to persuade the marsh spirit to abandon its home before it is destroyed. Theirs’ are all very unique lives – what could possibly tie together the thread of their stories? Well… spirits, technology and a whole lot of trickery seem to be the key to bringing them all together – oh, yeah, and Saraswati has something to do with it too!

Two months earlier, the vast network of Indian tech support call centers and their deep data banks had awakened and announced its newfound sentience, naming itself Saraswati and declaring its independence. The emergent artificial intelligence was not explicitly threatening, but India had nukes, and Saraswati had access to all the interconnected technology in the country—perhaps in the world—and the result in the international community was a bit like the aftermath of pouring gasoline into an anthill. Every other government on Earth was desperately—and so far fruitlessly—trying to create a tame artificial intelligence, since Saraswati refused to negotiate with, or even talk to, humans.

My Two Cents:

• The good:

• I loved the idea of Edgar’s capturing the spirits of dead people and putting them inside computers! A fun, mystical take on a slacker’s version of AI.
• I enjoyed the fact that Saraswati was a stubborn AI with access to all of India’s arsenal – it created a bit of tension in the story that reminds us all of the importance of secure networks.
• The use of Rayvenn’s PDA – very clever!

• The bad:

• There are a few instances of very strong language – so watch out for that.
• I wish this story would have been longer, it almost felt like it was too rushed at the end. A pity really.

Fact Sheet:
• Page Count: 5
• Word Count: 2,786

Where you can find “Artifice and Intelligence”:

• This short story first appeared in the August 6 2007 edition of Strange Horizons.
• “Artifice and Intelligence” is included in David Hartwell and Kathryn Cramer’s Year’s Best SF 13.
• You can read a nice HTML version at the Strange Horizons website – complete with illustrations!
• You can also listen to an mp3 / audio version at Escape Pod.

Some Interesting Links:

• In case you didn’t know, John Wilkes Booth was the American actor who assassinated Abraham Lincoln (the 16th President of the United States) in 1865.
• Did you know that “paganism” is a word that is used to define polytheistic religions?
• Artifice: a clever trick.

Craving More Stories?
If you enjoyed this story then you might also like Tim Pratt’s Hugo Award winning short story Impossible Dreams, about a movie aficionado who discovers an alternate dimension video store that changes his life.

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