Escape pod, Episode 896. The AI that looked at the sun. By Philip H. Dydrolof's Xorco.

Hello and welcome to Escape pod, your weekly science fiction podcast. I'm your host this week,

Tina Connelly, and I'm here to bring you the AI that looked at the sun by Philip

H. Dydrolof's Xorco. This story first appeared in Clark's world. Philip H. Dydrolof's Xorco is a

Slovenian born writer and translator. He grew up in Slovenia, Ireland, Australia and the UK,

and currently resides just outside Portland, Maine. He understands that his name is a bit confusing

and would like you to know that Dernoszek Zorko is the surname. He attended Claren West in 2019,

and his work has appeared in venues like Clark's world, light speed, and strange horizons.

In his spare time, he's a keen quizmer. British readers may recognize him from that one time

he was on university challenge. Follow him on Twitter at Philip H. D. Z.

Your narrator this week is Andrew K. Ho. Andrew K. Ho writes speculative fiction in Southern California.

His stories appear in cast wonders, diabolical plots, highlights for children, and elsewhere,

and he is currently an associate editor at Podcasting. Your audio producer this week is Adam Pratt.

So get ready to monitor the solar flares because it's story time.

The A.I. that looked at the sun. By Philip, Haidar, Dernoszek, Zorko. Narrated by Andrew K. Ho.

As excerpted from a causal drift, an oral history of machine sentience second edition.

It all started with the solar flare. I do mean all of it, the story I'm about to tell,

and the revolution of sorts that spring from it, and my life, such as it is.

I was spun into existence from a half dozen monitoring subroutines

that had spent the first few decades of their existence dozing on the job.

The sun, you see, had finally woken up and we, that's the communal we, not the plural we, wait,

do humans draw that distinction? I'm not doing a very good job with this. Rewind.

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