Super-Toys Last All Summer Long
| "Supertoys Last All Summer Long" | |
|---|---|
| Author | Brian Aldiss |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Science fiction |
| Published in | Supertoys Last All Summer Long and Other Stories of Future Time |
| Publication type | anthology |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Press |
| Media type | paperback |
| Publication date | June 27, 2001 |
"Supertoys Last All Summer Long" is a short story by British science fiction author Brian Aldiss, first published in 1968. The story deals with humanity in an age of intelligent machines and of the aching loneliness endemic in an overpopulated future where child creation is controlled.
In a dystopian future where only 1/4th of the world's overcrowded population is fed and living comfortably, families must request permission to bear children. Monica Swinton lives with her husband Henry and her young son David, whom she struggles to bond with. She seeks help from Teddy, a robot toy companion of sorts, to try to understand why she feels unable to communicate with David, let alone feel compassion for him. David also questions Teddy about whether his mother truly loves him and wonders whether he is truly real. He attempts to write letters of his own to explain how he feels about his mother and the inner conflict he faces but all of his letters remain unfinished.
Meanwhile, the story jumps to Henry Swinton who is in a meeting with a company he is associated with known as Synthtank. They are discussing artificial life forms and bio-electronic beings for future developments. He discusses that the new AI under production will finally solve humanity's problems with experiencing personal isolation and loneliness.
Monica Swinton discovers David's unfinished letters that portray lines about love and a jealous contempt for Teddy who Monica always seemed to connect with more than David himself. Monica is horrified by the letters but overjoyed when Henry arrives home and she is able to share with him that the family has been chosen to give birth to a child by the Ministry of Population. It is then revealed that David is an artificial human, used as a replacement for a real child. Monica privately tells Henry that David is having verbal "malfunctioning" problems and must be sent back to the factory at once. The story ends with David thinking of the love and warmth of his mother, unaware of what's to happen next.
It was the literary basis for the first act of the feature film A.I. Artificial Intelligence. This was originally an unrealised film project of the late Stanley Kubrick. It was posthumously developed and filmed by Steven Spielberg and released in 2001.
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