Robots vs. Silodeys: The Story of Bulgaria's First Science Fiction Writer
In 1930, Georgi Iliev wrote the first Bulgarian science fiction novel. Instead of “robot,” he proposed the poetic word “silodey.” His life story is worthy of a film, though today his name is almost forgotten…
02“If It’s Beautiful, Does It Matter That AI Wrote It?”
Is there room for poetry in the age of TikTok and artificial intelligence? How do we return this art to the pedestal it deserves? Can today’s poets be influencers, and should they? Is the time when artificial intelligence can no longer be separated from poetry frightening, or a dream come true? Apollo ex machina is the name of Bulgaria’s first competition for poetry created with the help of artificial intelligence, and now is the moment to join in! The venture’s special name was coined by today’s guest. Besides sitting on the competition jury, he runs the publishing house Scribens, which will publish the best poems from it in a collection. Georgi Gavrilov is a poet and… a physicist. He founded Scribens to give young Bulgarian authors a chance to reach their readers.
03“We Don’t Appreciate That We Live in the Best Moment in History”
“People don’t appreciate that we live in the best moment in human history. We have advanced medicine, transport, communications… everything, everything you can think of. To have the chance to travel the whole world without restrictions and not take it is a crime against evolution. Because it won’t last forever. Covid, wars, regimes, diseases… Right now we are in a perfect situation, where the biggest problem is that Windows computers freeze for 8 hours and your flight gets pushed to the next day.” We’ll talk about the joy of writing and the need for hardship in life. We’ll travel around the world, through literature, through the big issues of the day. With a man who truly loves to travel like nothing else—he has lived on 4 continents and visited more than 40 countries. Abo. He chose a name that sounds like an AI’s. He trained in criminology, teaching and psychology, and today he is a writer—the author of two books, an editor, a translator and a journalist. But how come, and why, is he called Abo? And why does a subject of King Charles III, after so much travel, choose to come back to Bulgaria, which he considers a balanced, happy, cozy place?
