Zary Fekete Is on an “Evil AI Kick"

Zary Fekete grew up in Hungary and currently lives in Tokyo. He has a debut novella (Words on the Page) out with DarkWinter Lit Press and a short story collection (The Written Path: A Journey Through Sobriety and Scripture) out with Creative Texts. He enjoys books, podcasts, and many many many films.

Zary is the author of “Its Name is 'House'” from Issue 12.

Q: How have the multiple cultures you’ve experienced (Hungary, Tokyo, etc.) shaped you and your writing?

I grew up in Hungary, so were many required elementary school and middle school texts and poems that I read along with my Hungarian classmates. Then, as an adult, I moved back to Hungary for work and continued to explore Hungarian literature at an older age. This tendency continued when my wife, and I then moved to China for work and now to Japan. Any time I visit a new culture, I try to buy a few translated works in order to get a sense of what the culture is currently reading and also what has historically been important to that location throughout time.

There is such truth to the statement, “Absence makes the heart grow fonder.” When I am away from one particular culture for a bit, I immediately realize that I want to write about it more.

Q: What does the short story do that long form work does not, in your opinion?

The short story is typically about one particular slice [of time], while longer work can involve many more pieces of movement. The short story is also compelling for someone who only has a short amount of time to spend on a particular moment of reading.

Q: What technology trends served as inspiration for “Its Name is ‘House’”? Additionally, what trends in tech to you find concerning in terms of losing personal autonomy?

I wish I had something novel and unique to say about this, but I know I’m just noticing the same things everyone else is about their modern lives: algorithms feeding personalized content, devices that listen, and, of course, all AI, all the time.

Q: What's the hardest thing to get right when writing an AI as a character or an antagonist?

There have been so many versions of AI in storytelling culture; it is difficult to find a genuinely new way to write about it. With the absence of any better ideas, I usually imagine AI as a concerned schoolmarm who will never stop wagging a finger at humanity.

Q: Have you had a reader tell you something about your work that changed the way you see it?

I have a writers’ circle where we share pieces of our work with each other for comments and feedback. One of my friends read a few of my pieces where I described elements of my youth in Hungary, and they told me they could picture what I was describing. My friend has never been to Hungary and could not have any way to visualize it outside of my writing. That was very kind and helpful to hear.

Q: Tell us about your debut novella out form DarkWinter Lit.

Clearly I’ve been on an “evil AI” kick recently! Two ideas collided to produce this short book. I had recently read Hawthorne’s “Rappaccini’s Daughter” (terrific, BTW) and also a journalistic piece about how western countries outsource the maintenance of their social media feeds to data centers in other countries like India. The people working in those centers pour over gigabytes of content in order to weed out objectional material. And naturally, those workers end up encountering the absolute dregs of internet filth.

This made me wonder whether an AI set up to monitor content could become confused and actually believe that this is what people really want to see in their feed. I wrote the novella quite quickly over the course of a week and then polished it for a couple of months before sending it out. It was the longest thing I had written up to that point, and it was thrilling to receive the offer of publication from DarkWinter Lit.

Q: Walk us through your experience winning the DarkWinter Lit short story contest with your work “Benorah”?

I was helping my son with a college essay where he needed to read “The New Atlantis” by Francis Bacon. I loved Bacon’s idea, and I wondered what a modern version of that story might look like. I took a stab at it, and eventually submitted it to the contest. It was a very pleasant surprise to win!

Q: Was there any music (1-3 songs) that you think would make a good mini-setlist for your story? Either ones that may have been on your mind, or ones that give readers a good idea of the themes?

1. Schubert wrote a short lieder called “Erlkönig” about a folktale where a father and son are traveling home through the dark forest at night. It is spooky and evocative of the atmosphere I imagined for “House.”

2. Kate Bush, “Under Ice” from her Hounds of Love album.

3. Portishead, “All Mine.”