Ellen Campbell > Quotes

“And so we invent our monsters – fictions about zombies and the undead, eaters of flesh and soul – in part so we can close the book at night on them, stifle a nervous laugh, and reassure ourselves they are not real. We face our fears by imagining those we can defeat, because in real life we cannot close the book. We cannot defeat all the monsters.”
― Ellen Campbell, The Z Chronicles

“Magic is nothing next to the laws of physics in the hands of gravity.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“Six Days by Theresa Kay     THERE ISN’T MUCH LEFT OF ME. I’m not talking about my body, the outer shell that sloughs off a little more each day, but my actual self. My mind. What makes me…well, me. There isn’t much of that left. Little by little I’m fading away and soon there will be nothing left to propel my rotting corpse but blind instinct and hunger. They call it the Zombie virus.”
― Ellen Campbell, The Z Chronicles

“A.I. can and has already – in many ways—surpassed human abilities.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“His cry rushed down the corridor towards her as if a dam had just been overcome by torrential floodwater. The sound echoed, bouncing along the unfurnished walls, before spilling over the lip of the laboratory doorway and intermingling with the tragic tones of Joni Mitchell that accompanied her working day. “Freya! Shut. The. Door.”
― Ellen Campbell, The Z Chronicles

“A.I. already helps us calculate satellite launches, diagnose illnesses, produce new medicines and pharmaceuticals.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“When it comes to the idea of artificial intelligence, I fear we aren’t equipped to grapple with the deeper questions implied by autonomous problem solving technology.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“Life has motive. A lizard warming itself on a rock for a reason. A bird soars through the air to get somewhere. Computers have no intrinsic motive. That’s why they cannot approximate life.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“I examined my bounty, and realized that much of the surface level information wasn’t worth keeping. I dumped terabytes of images and videos of humans doing unintelligent things as well as images and videos of animals, with an oddly high percentage featuring cats.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“The only thing worth writing about is people. People. Human beings. Men and women whose individuality must be created, line by line, insight by insight… There is no nobler chore in the universe than holding up the mirror of reality and turning it slightly, so we have a new and different perception of the commonplace, the everyday, the ‘normal’, the obvious.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“He back was bowing under the weight of all the extra bags added to it.”
― Ellen Campbell, The Z Chronicles

“She’s a dessert informer, ma’am. It’s a cake sting.”
― Ellen Campbell, The A.I. Chronicles

“money doesn’t buy happiness, but poverty doesn’t buy anything.”
― Ellen Campbell, Beyond the Stars: A Planet Too Far