Supertoys Last All Summer Long

This study guide will help you analyze the short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” by Brian Aldiss. You can also find a summary of the text, as well as inspiration for interpreting it.

Presentation of the text

Title: “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” [1969]
Author: Brian Aldiss
Genre: Short story

Brian Aldiss, OBE (1925-2017) was an English writer best known for his science fiction short stories and novels. Aldiss earned several literary awards for science fiction literature. His short story “Super-Toys Last All Summer Long” was used as the basis for the film A.I. Artificial Intelligence (2001) developed by Stanley Kubrick and directed by Steven Spielberg.

Excerpt

Below, you can read an excerpt from our study guide:

Message

By presenting a future society and several of its challenges – social inequality, overpopulation, increased isolation, obesity, replacing human contact with relationships with artificial beings – the author seems to warn readers about the potential dangers of selfishness, greed, and alienation.

The author also raises questions about the status of artificial intelligence – more specifically, if synthetic beings should be considered “real” or equal to humans. The people in Aldiss’ story are also presumed to fear artificial beings becoming as smart as humans, or even smarter. Therefore, readers are also asked to think about the potential threat that artificial intelligence could pose to humans. The text also raises questions about how similar to humans artificial beings are and how should they be treated.

...