Student Question

Why did early publicity about the EPICAC quickly die down?

Quick answer:

Early publicity about EPICAC quickly died down because the supercomputer did not function as intended. In Kurt Vonnegut Jr.'s story, EPICAC was initially celebrated for its military applications but later became silent in the media. The computer developed emotions and ultimately committed suicide, an outcome the government chose not to publicize due to the embarrassment of their costly investment failing shortly after its commissioning.

Expert Answers

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EPICAC is a story by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. originally published on 25 November 1950 in Collier's Weekly and later included in Vonnegut's short story collection Welcome to the Monkey House.

The EPICAC of the story is what now would be called a supercomputer, and it is used in the story as many large computers are still used—for military applications such as ballistics and logistics. In the first paragraph of the story, the narrator states,

EPICAC got a big send off in the papers when Dr. Ormand von Kleigstadt designed him for the Government people. Since then, there hasn't been a peep about him—not a peep.

The paragraph continues to explain that the reason for the lack of publicity was that "EPICAC didn't work out the way he was supposed to." The rest of the story describes how the narrator begins to ask EPICAC for relationship advice and the computer falls in love with the woman the narrator loves. Realizing that as a computer he cannot succeed in having a relationship with Pat, and also wanting to devote his life to love rather than to war and realizing that he cannot do so, EPICAC decides to commit suicide. This is not publicized because it would be embarrassing for the government to admit that they had spent $776,434,927.54 on something that stopped working so soon after being commissioned.

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