As many of us literature fanatics understand, there are stories that simply stick with you. Some of them are romantic stories of chivalry and honor (The Princess Bride) and others are stories of scientific wonder (The Martian Chronicles). Meanwhile, some are downright disturbing and perverse in strangely engaging ways. Harlan Ellison’s classic short story “I Have No Mouth and I Must Scream” is a story that will leave you both unsettled and pondering the future of artificial intelligence. The premise itself is extremely dark and the thought of crippling humiliation at the hands of a god machine sounded spiritually debilitating. In this post, we will examine the story and understand how Ellison created such a horrific future.