Sachin Benny launches a bio-thriller series set aboard the UET-1, the world's longest single rail line connecting Lisbon to Laos, following protagonist Rowan as she recruits unsuspecting friends for an invisible war while maintaining a meticulously optimized body through advanced cosmetic procedures. The narrative explores themes of bodily control, hidden agendas, and the blurred lines between self-care and weaponization in a speculative future.
This issue features worldbuilding analysis of the AI-generated film South Beast Asia, examining ten core traits designed to explore distributed AI systems through a Southeast Asian-inspired lens developed at the Khlongs & Subaks workshop. The piece unpacks how fictional 'strange rules' address questions of AI distribution while the issue also hosts a guest talk with AI Snake Oil author Arvind Sarayanan.
Sam Chua
Venkatesh Rao expands on his vision of AI and protocols working together to create stable ecologies of distributed, diverse AI systems, where protocols act as the fabric weaving individual AIs into coherent planetary infrastructure. He illustrates this framework with concrete examples including TITLES, a generative art platform that creates fine-tuned models from individual artist collections, demonstrating how personality emerges from the combination of AI capabilities and protocol-based coordination.
Venkatesh Rao
Circadia explores a world where sleep is perfectly regulated by wearable technology that monitors and controls dreams, following protagonist Kemi as she experiences an anomalous recurring dream that breaks the system's design—a dream that shouldn't be remembered but is, suggesting something unexpected in the protocol. The issue also announces a guest talk on poetry, protocols, and infinite games with Robert Peake.
Afeez
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