Dream big, burn bright, but don’t burn out

Sci-fi author Chen Qiufan visits KGV

“We don’t train writers.”

That’s what Chen Qiufan (陈楸帆) was told in his first Chinese Literature class at Peking University. And yet, he went on to become the only author in his class, and is now an internationally recognized science fiction writer with numerous prestigious awards to his name. Last Thursday, the Y12 Chinese students were honored to welcome Chen to KGV for a two hour talk and discussion, where he shared his unique journey and delighted students with insightful answers to their questions. 

After his graduate studies, Chen worked at tech giants such as Baidu and Google China, but never lost sight of his passion for writing, dedicating time to short stories after hours. In his talk, Chen emphasised how working at these tech companies and being surrounded by people in the industry has contributed to the realism of his science fiction works. 

His penchant for finding the warmth of humanity in sci-fi is the thread that runs through his work, which explores issues such as climate destruction and how marginalized individuals grapple with technological change. In our increasingly technology centered world, literature is more important than ever, since it has the unique ability to remind us about the importance and experiences of people and the everyday. He emphasized how reading and writing is an important skill that everyone should train - not just authors. In the future, the ability to reflect on and articulate our own personal experiences in words will become increasingly valuable, especially as it becomes easier to generate mediocre writing. Writing is not merely putting words on paper, but a process that strengthens our ability to think deeply and feel deeply - precisely the things that make us human. As we delegate more and more tasks to AI, the responsibility for our own thinking truly becomes the last defense of our humanity.

When asked about how to balance one’s AI usage, rather than fall into the extremes of total rejection or blind worship, Chen talked about the importance of setting boundaries with AI. While we’re all familiar with boundaries in relationships, it can be easy to forget to examine the one between human and machine. Without the guidance of a steady foundation of knowledge and good taste, AI can slowly erode your innate perspective and intellectual curiosity. 

However, once you have laid the foundations and put in the difficult manual work first, AI can be a unique kind of writing partner. Chen has explored the relationship between writer and artificial intelligence since 2018, when he published the short story State of Trance, which was co-written with an AI version of himself. Nowadays, AI still remains a part of his writing life, and he uses it as a research assistant, a sounding board for ideas, and a partner to get him through writer’s block. Another unique way that Chen uses AI is to build chatrooms with his characters, while he observes their interactions and finds sparks for his writing. 

Even so, Chen also likes to go back to writing on paper in order to train himself to write on command, without the comfortable guidance of AI hovering behind his shoulder. If even a tech industry veteran like him finds the need to return to paper and pen, then perhaps we do too. When was the last time you reflected on your own relationship with AI? As magical as it can be, its ability to help us grow is limited by our ability to reflect on how it affects our thinking. 

As a final word, Chen reminded us to enjoy our final year of high school, reflecting on how many of his current friends came from his school days. And if you ever get anxious about the uncertain future, his advice is worth remembering too: Do your best, and leave the rest up to fate (努力在人，成事在天). Anxiety comes from the clash between uncertainty and an innate desire for certainty, but we have the benefit of time. In the second halves of our lives, what will keep us going is curiosity and health, the foundations of which we are laying down now.

Despite having his writer dreams dismissed at university, Chen was ironically invited back to his alma mater to give a talk on technology and literature. It just goes to show how quickly the world changes - we can’t predict what will happen in the future, so the safest bet is to actually listen to what you’re naturally drawn to. Dream big, burn bright, but don’t burn out.