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Open Questions‘Rational optimist’: sci-fi writer Liu Cixin on why he’ll be happy if AI surpasses humans
Acclaimed author of the Three-Body trilogy also discusses his ‘dark forest’ theory, and the struggle to come up with original ideas
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Sylvie Zhuangin Beijing
Liu Cixin is the most influential contemporary science fiction writer in China. He is best known for his trilogy that starts with The Three-Body Problem, for which he won a Hugo Award for best novel in 2015. The trilogy earned international acclaim and has been adapted for television in both Chinese and English.
Born in 1963 and raised in Shanxi, Liu started his working life as a computer engineer at a power plant in the central province. Inspired by British sci-fi author Arthur C. Clarke, Liu began writing in the late 1980s, eventually giving up his day job in the late 2000s to write full time.
Liu took part in the following Q&A with media and students from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in October, when he was awarded an honorary doctorate in humanities. It first appeared in SCMP Plus. For other interviews in the Open Questions series, click here.
The Three-Body trilogy centred around one theme: the “dark forest” theory – a cosmos where civilisations hide or strike pre-emptively, fearing others will destroy them first, and in a dark forest, every creature must stay silent to survive. Do you think humanity should remain silent in the universe?
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