Novels as "Empathy Machines" in the Age of AI: Richard Powers's Bewilderment.

This article offers a close reading of Richard Powers's 2021 novel Bewilderment , tracing the ways that machine-enabled Decoded-Neurofeedback ("DecNef") functions in the novel as a science fictional exaggeration of the power of reading fiction. By implication, Powers's dramatization of the DecNef's...

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Publicado en:CEA Critic Vol. 88; no. 1; pp. 71 - 86
Autor principal: Hediger, Ryan
Formato: Artículo
Publicado: Johns Hopkins University Press Mar2026
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Acceso en línea:Ver este registro en EBSCOhost
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        atl: Novels as "Empathy Machines" in the Age of AI: Richard Powers's Bewilderment.
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        au: Hediger, Ryan
        affil: Kent State University
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        Intersubjectivity
        Flow theory (Psychology)
        Affective computing
        Authors
        Biofeedback training
        Curiosity
        Fiction writing
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          Intersubjectivity
          Flow theory (Psychology)
          Affective computing
          Authors
          Biofeedback training
          Curiosity
          Fiction writing
      ab: This article offers a close reading of Richard Powers's 2021 novel Bewilderment , tracing the ways that machine-enabled Decoded-Neurofeedback ("DecNef") functions in the novel as a science fictional exaggeration of the power of reading fiction. By implication, Powers's dramatization of the DecNef's effects on the central character, Robin, turns Bewilderment itself into a kind of empathy machine that has the potential to heighten the feelings and thoughts of readers about problems both local and global. Structuring the discussion here will be sections involving learning from others, readers and community, "flow state" and intersubjectivity, and AI.
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    language: English
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