"I hope that one day there will be a revival of the "Watches"
Now the neural network writes at the level of an average author, according to the famous science fiction writer Sergey Lukyanenko. According to him, in order for artificial intelligence to create truly original books, it must gain intelligence — or people must simplify themselves so much that the creations of machines seem brilliant to them. Moreover, the second option seems more likely. In an exclusive interview with Izvestia, the author of "Dozorov" revealed the secrets of the new book "The Ninth", told which predictions from his novels came true, and shared his views on the future — up to the prospect of human immortality.
"It is possible to change the biological nature of a person"
— In January, your novel "The Ninth" was published, the second book in the series "The Heavenly Host". What issues do you escalate in it, what problems do the characters face?
— The heroes have changed the scene. If the events of the first book unfolded in the orbit of Jupiter, now they are located in the Saturn system. It's no coincidence that I mention this, because the action of both the first and second books, by and large, takes place in space, within the Solar system. And although this is fiction, I tried to describe the real cosmos as it is.
I had to dive into reference books quite seriously in order to describe the world as it really exists, and not as it is often portrayed by science fiction writers. Usually we just make up what we need. Here, everything was complicated, interesting and entertaining. To my shame, I realized that I simply did not know some things about space before. Now I have studied the Saturn system much better. If anything, I won't get lost.
Writer Sergey Lukyanenko
— In The Seventh, the first book of the cycle, you talk about cloning as an attempt to defeat death. This topic will probably continue in the Ninth. Today we are witnessing a boom in biohacking, AI avatars, and digital "life extension." Do you see this as a path to immortality or to a new form of inequality and loss of man as such?
— To some extent, yes. It is unlikely that this will lead to full-fledged immortality. This would require a different biological and physical nature, so that consciousness could be transferred there.
But it is certainly possible to change the biological nature of a person to a large extent. Most likely, scientists will achieve this in the next 10-20 years, which will seriously increase human life expectancy. I think it's quite real. We'll see if I'm right or wrong.
"I described the conflict between Russia and Ukraine back in 1996."
— Science fiction writers are often called prophets. Which of your ideas about the future turned out to be frighteningly accurate, and which, on the contrary, could not withstand the collision with reality?
— Mostly, unfortunately, I foresaw social cataclysms. They are easier to predict. As for scientific and technical inventions, everything is much more complicated here: science has now gone very far ahead. If you are not a full-fledged scientist working at the forefront of science, then you are unlikely to be able to invent or invent something that does not yet exist.
You can either popularize science by studying the latest developments in laboratories, or fantasize and sometimes (accidentally) get into something. But in order to act precisely as a writer predicting scientific and technical breakthroughs, you still need to be a scientist.
Writer Sergey Lukyanenko participates in the discussion "The future: it is possible or impossible to prepare" within the framework of the literary prize in the field of science fiction "History of the Future"
— And what social cataclysms did you manage to predict?
— For example, I described the conflict between Russia and Ukraine back in 1996.
— Last year, Eduard Verkin's novel "The Magpie on the Gallows" received the "Big Book" — a rare, if not the first case for fiction. Is it possible to talk about a new wave of interest in this genre in Russia?
— In principle, it is possible. Verkin is a very interesting author. Sometimes he works at the intersection of fiction and realism. In any case, even his fiction is sustained in the traditions of great Russian literature. He writes mature, strong prose, which can easily be classified as fiction.
The writer Eduard Verkin, who won in the Fiction nomination (the book "The Magpie on the Gallows"), during the XX ceremony of awarding the national literary prize "The Big Book"
— Do you see any interest in the genre among the young audience? After all, today technology allows you to film everything at a very high level.
— Let's just say that there was, is, and will be an interest in fiction. Fiction, of course, is divided into purely entertaining — about the adventures of the body and more serious — about the adventures of the spirit. The first one is certainly more popular, but the second one is still closer to literature.
"Defenders" turned out to be too straightforward tracing paper of the simplest superhero schemes"
— I can't help but ask about the Order of the Scarlet Star project, which promises to give Russia its own multiverse of superheroes. On the Web, it's called the Russian answer to Marvel. What is the current stage of the project?
— Traditionally, I will say that this is not Marvel's answer, no one has asked us anything. This is a project based on literature, not comics. So far, everything is at the stage of scenario development. I made my own version of the script, but as you know, cinema is a collective effort. A lot of creative people have joined the project, who contribute everything they can to the project, and even much more. I sincerely wish success to everyone involved with the project and hope for their professionalism. If necessary, I will be happy to continue working at any time.
A shot from the movie "The Avengers"
— Will it be both feature films and animation?
— Yes, a fairly large film universe is planned, in which there will be a place for both adult and children's audiences. There are many plans: movies, animation, and a series format. But any such project requires both serious funds and careful study, so it has been in a pre-launch state for a long time. While the producers are raising these funds, they are developing and deciding when to finally start production. Nothing depends on the scriptwriters and developers of the project at this stage.
An image from the movie "Major Thunder: The Game"
— There have already been attempts to create national superheroes in Russian cinema: "Major Thunder", "Black Lightning", "Defenders". There was no big breakthrough, except for "Major Thunder". Why does this model take root so hard in our country?
— "Defenders" and "Black Lightning", in my opinion, suffered from scenario problems. "Black Lightning" copied the trappings of a superhero movie. Many things were done wrong there. The Defenders turned out to be too straightforward a tracing paper of the simplest superhero schemes. Their failure, by and large, was predictable already at the scenario level.
As for Major Thunder, I think it's a good project and perhaps the most successful of the listed ones. If its creators hadn't been afraid to shoot fiction specifically and hadn't always tried to keep within the confines of a detective story, the result could have been even stronger. It's still not the best way for the plot.
Writer Sergey Lukyanenko
"I know how the story of Anton Gorodetsky will end"
— How do you feel about the use of artificial intelligence in literature — as a tool, a threat to the profession, or an inevitable stage in the evolution of the text? And do you use AI yourself, at least as an experiment?
— I feel pretty bad about it. Neural networks are capable of simulating medium-quality literature. They don't think or compose — they compile new text from a huge array of existing ones.
It's like when a child takes apart a car made from Lego, and then puts together a hut from the same parts. In a sense, this is also creativity, but it always simplifies the original idea.
Now the neural network writes at the level of an average author — relatively speaking, a three-plus, sometimes a four-minus. If the author controls it very tightly and sets good standards, the result may be acceptable.
I know people who have tried to write like that. Then they admitted that in order to get high-quality text from a neural network, you need to spend as much time explaining it as it would take to write the text yourself.
In order for the neural network to start creating truly new and interesting books, it must become intelligent. Or we should simplify ourselves so that her work would seem brilliant to us. The second option, I'm afraid, is more likely.
A shot from the movie "Night Watch"
— I would like to end with a question about the cycle that made you widely known. This is, of course, about the "Patrols". "Day Watch" was released almost 20 years ago, and the first novel was written 10 years before it. When will the end of the "Eternal Watch" be reached?
— I hope I'll finish this story and finish the book. Film versions, by the way, are also possible. But this project has such a fate that it periodically flares up, and then plunges back into the scenario-production hell. I really hope that one day there will be either a revival of the "Watches" or a relaunch of the franchise. Of course, I know how the story of Anton Gorodetsky will end.
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