Safe Travels, Winners!

Congratulations to the latest class of Writers & Illustrators of the Future winners! Their workshop week in LA just ended and I’m sure they are chock full of interesting observations and ideas for future projects. They will certainly have met some terrific fellow artists and had a fascinating experience. (I’m also betting they’re exhausted because that week is intense, but they can sleep on the way home!)

I look forward to reading volume 42!

If 42 is the answer, these stories ask the questions worth thinking about.

Discover fifteen unforgettable science fiction and fantasy short stories—illustrated in full color—featuring twelve emerging voices alongside three acclaimed masters of the genre. From visionary sci-fi to emotionally rich fantasy and quiet horror, this collection delivers bold “what ifs” that linger long after the final page.

What if a perfect rescue went catastrophically wrong?

What if the “better you” doesn’t want to share your life?

What if love could survive inside a virtual reality?

Inside, you’ll encounter a flawless time-rescue gone wrong, a beauty treatment with terrifying consequences, a detective hunted by a body-hopping killer, and a homesteader uncovering a truth that rewrites Earth itself. You’ll also find dragons that defy myth, fairy-tale chaos, supernatural horror, and high-concept science fiction that blends heart, humor, and imagination.

If you’re reading this and thinking, “Well, that sounds interesting, and also I am not a professional (yet) and might qualify for this competition,” I say go for it. The contest is free, accepts entries quarterly, and can be excellent as a motivating deadline. (And who knows, you may find yourself in a room with the writers of some of your favorite childhood books. Now that’s magic made real.)

Writer Contest | Writers & Illustrators of the Future (illustrators too!)

Enter a short story science fiction, fantasy, light horror. 

Up to but not exceeding 17,000 words. 

Free to enter and entrants retain all publication rights. 

Enter 1 story per quarter, up to 4 per year. 

Anonymous judging. This is a merit-based competition.

Here’s to this new round of winners, and to artists everywhere!

* * *

I research a lot about culture and religion, and one highly significant thing that’s currently developing is religious, mystic, and occult beliefs about artificial intelligence. I have the feeling, in the way it presents itself right now to me, that this will become a very big aspect of the future.

There is just too much potential for this not to happen.

There are so many people who “speak to God” to get help and answers, and it works because it’s a kind of self-reflection or “rubber ducking.” Gurus also work because they say vastly generic stuff that, if taken seriously and in a personal context, becomes another form of self-reflection.

This is also how LLMs affect these AI believers at the moment. They ask something, and the AI reflects these things with questions and a bit of information. It doesn’t even matter if the information is right or not because the human mind will just discard anything that doesn’t work for it > see the Bible, Quran or really any other religious text.

There’s so much potential for a perceived entity like a god or guru that talks directly to you, not just in mystic generalities.

I can see a path where, in the next 100 years, a major religion will evolve with some kind of AI in it.

The AI Gods are coming.

#AI #LLM #religion #WOTF #TechnologicalSingularity