<strong>Background</strong>

Among many prolific science fiction authors, my only favorite was Jules Verne and John W Campbell whose story I keep on reading hundred times. However,Campbell is foreign to casual reader’s as he was not as famous as Verne and HG Wells in the same field. In addition to that, ironically, every time I typed “ twilight” the result which appeared was fantasy romance between a cold-blooded creature and a misfit girl. I think he is an undervalued brilliant writer and more should consider reading his piece of writings especially in the age where the debate of artificial intelligence is a recurrent topic. Twilight is an exceptional piece of writing that tells about the rise and fall of mankind. Thus, read a little review from mine before proceeding to read one of a thought-provoking short story dated back to 1934.

![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmdM8FHJRZnE5a6DK4FHjfiABYRXYRzdhc4DJpByVfCKSM/image.png)
<center>[Don't be fooled](https://www.pexels.com/photo/action-android-device-electronics-595804/)</center>


*Spoiler Alerts*
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<center> ![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQSwRZXa5yPsApBiHoVMvg5HX9dcvEsFWTFJmi53xD6NL/image.png)</center>

Twilight is a short classic science fiction story written by John W Campbell in 1934 under a pseudonym Don A Stuart. He wrote the story among another short story in a series called Astounding. This piece is thought-provoking especially at times where automation and artificial intelligence is rising. [Read more about the author](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_W._Campbell).

The story started with a conversation between the narrator and the protagonist Jim Bendell, a real estate businessman who met a queer man on 9 December 1932. The man, whom he met said he came from 3059 where his experiment was started. He was traveling to seven million years from where he was coming. This man named Ares Sen Kenlin which Sen stood for scientific. He explained himself as a man with half human genetic and was the first of the new race. Shortly, Kenlin took over the narration and told his experience into a civilization where its people were very dependent on machines that worked ceaseless and tirelessly. Along his narration, we will be taken to witness the devastating life of its citizen because they destroy inadvertent death which actually causing environmental imbalance. Not only that this story will take us to an adventure of check-listing of our current technology findings such as the restaurant that had its food displayed directly which these days translates as vending machine.  More on that, Kenlin gave a comparison between the language in 3059 and seven million years later. Such as, in 3059 words were elided compared to seven million years later where people were speaking through a circuit and in a high-pitched note. He didn't understand the people's word but according to him, it was a sweet tone and almost like a beautiful song.Furthermore, The story went on describing the nature and Kenlin's outlook about his whole experience. One of his remarks was;

> the men that have lived and hoped,and died to leave behind them those little men who can only ponder through the vast cities their ancestors built, knowing less of them than the machines.

There are not many critics wrote about its review yet I stumble upon [Goodreads's reviewers](https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/18117920-twilight-by-john-w-campbell) who voice out negative remarks about the plot and its narration style. I admit it can be disconcerting for the reader to switch back and forth to understand the time span in the story but it would be helpful if before you take a look at the graphic below:
<center>![Adventure.jpg](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQYetKv8FqrS9qRXqRih9JrsahvyZsF4vaj4TTjCwbdtH/Adventure.jpg)</center>

Another thing is that, this story is very visionary as it's able to look further into today's society despite written in the 30's. The issues he was trying to convey weren't too apparent until recent times. And, he managed to cover almost every aspect of life and its environment during apocalyptic times.Moreover, the author would gave us  insights on what could happen if human were too dependent on automation and machines. Thus, it made this whole story interesting for Artificial Intelligence enthusiast or simply casual reader to understand the impact of automation in our daily life and the future.


<center>![](https://steemitimages.com/DQmQSwRZXa5yPsApBiHoVMvg5HX9dcvEsFWTFJmi53xD6NL/image.png)</center>

<strong>Final thought</strong>

The story sets me on a journey of deep pondering about the effect of automation and AI. I am not against automation that helps mankind life easier but I believe we shouldn't be reckless of possible risks.  As in the story, the human was very smart but they lost the ability to think as they have a machine that does it for them.


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