Share Tweet Share Email

Best-selling sci-fi author Daniel H. Wilson to visit June 19, 20

June 16, 2014
Daniel H. Wilson

Daniel H. Wilson

Are you smarter than your smart phone? Can you outdrive a self-driving car? The technology we rely on is becoming more and more sophisticated. Could humanity survive if that technology turned evil?

Daniel H. Wilson, who explores the possibility of a machine uprising in his novel “Robopocalypse,” will visit NIU and the Sycamore Public Library this week to discuss his writing, his work and the possibility of surviving a future war against robots.

In “Robopocalypse,” a powerful artificial intelligence called Archos becomes self-aware and perpetrates a massive attack against humanity by taking control of the machines we use every day. Everything from children’s toys to self-driving cars to bomb-defusing robots are used to bring humanity to its knees. The survivors of the initial attacks will have to band together and find new ways to use technology to survive.

Wilson has a master’s degree in artificial intelligence and robotics and a Ph.D. in robotics from Carnegie Mellon University. He is the author of several novels and is currently adapting “Robopocalypse” for Steven Spielberg and DreamWorks. His sequel, “Robogenesis,” was released last week.

Book cover of “Robogenesis”Wilson will speak at NIU’s La Tourette Hall Room 200 at 7 p.m. Thursday, June 19. He also will speak at the Sycamore Public Library at noon Friday, June 20, as part of the library’s “Lunch with a Legend” program.

Both of these events are free and open to the public. Wilson’s books with be available for purchase. Free lunch will be provided Friday.

The events are hosted by NIU STEM Read, a program that encourages readers to explore the science behind science fiction. STEM Read creates exciting live author events as well as online games, expert videos and lesson plans to help readers engage with the science, technology, engineering and math in their favorite books.

In honor of Wilson’s visit, STEM Read is celebrating robotics all week long.

Organizers have partnered with STEM Outreach to create an interdisciplinary summer camp for teens called Preventing the Robopocalypse, which will use concepts from “Robopocalypse” to introduce teens to robotics, art and design, ethics, and creative writing. STEM Read is also hosting a professional development event STEAMing It Up! Hot Tips for Infusing Arts, Literacy, and Contemporary Fiction into STEM Education.

Teachers, librarians, and informal educators will gather at Founders Memorial Library before Wilson’s public talk to discuss tools, lesson plans and learning resources they can use to engage young learners with science, technology, engineering, art and math.

For more information, email gkingcargile@niu.edu.