2nd Variety, "Second Variety", is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published 1953. The story is one of the first to anticipate and warn against the rise of Weaponized AI, "military artificial intelligence arms race" and "offensive autonomous weapons".
Autonomous weapons, human-robot strike teams, autonomous land mines, and covert swarms of minuscule robotic spies, have been described as the third revolution in warfare, after gunpowder and nuclear arms.
In the story, a nuclear war between Russia and the West has reduced much of the world to a barren wasteland. The war continues, however, among the scattered remains of humanity. The Western forces have developed "killer robots", which are autonomous self-replicating robots to fight on their side.
The story is one of Philip Dick's many stories in which nuclear war has rendered the Earth's surface uninhabitable. The story was adapted into the movie Screamers in 1995.
Other Philip Dick's short stories included in this print edition include The Eyes Have It, The Skull, Beyond The Door, Beyond Lies The Wub, The Defenders, The Gun and Mr. Spaceship.
Philip K. Dick (1928-1982) remains one of the most celebrated science fiction authors of the last century and a looming and illuminating presence in this one. Philip Dick has received unprecedented recognition for his contributions to modern literature, specifically in the area of science fiction. His 45 novels and over 210 short stories have been adapted into numerous films, including the blockbusters Minority Report, Total Recall, and Blade Runner, as well as Impostor, Paycheck, Scanner Darkly, Next, Screamers and The Adjustment Bureau.
