§Personal Collection

AI Fiction 1815-1900: Artificial Life Before Computers

Pre-computer literature that anticipates artificial life, automata, machine consciousness, and the creator's responsibility.

The Sandman

E.T.A. Hoffmann · 1815

An early automaton story whose Olympia figure sits at the root of later artificial-person fiction.

Mary Shelley · 1818

Not computer AI, but the durable literary template for artificial life, creator negligence, and the humanity of the made being.

Samuel Butler · 1872

A foundational machine-consciousness text, building from Butler's earlier 'Darwin among the Machines' argument.