Singularity zombies commit computer cannibalism with your brain

i09 identifies a trend in science fiction away from the Singularity optimism that has influenced some of the genre since the 90s, though not as widespread as the article would have us believe. Citing zombies, steampunk and alternatives such as Neal Stephenson's Anathem, the article simplifies and reduces these explorations to a genre war.

Whilst books, short stories and the visual in the genre may have been influenced by the debates over the Singularity, it is a massive step to describe any reaction as a literary equavalent to Jovian relinquishment. Of course, if an article is wrong, or a brave and bracing stab at a picture, easily undone, what is the alternative? Is there a cultural fatigue for shiny optimism or, more likely, are we struggling to set up frameworks for realising how we get from here to there (William Gibson, Charlie Stross, Ken Macleod, Bruce Sterling and newer variants like Moxyland). Pumping iron on the near future is tremendously difficult: fantastic alternatives in a market where fantasy is popular gains traction.

Even the convenors of the Singularity Summit avoid the readings of inevitability and shininess that can convert concept to creed and screed:

If, however, futurists are able to restrain themselves from unbridled techno-optimism (as well as from cynical techno-pessimism), if they can maintain a healthy skepticism toward unsubstantiated claims, if they can promote and demonstrate reliance on scientific rationality, if they will assiduously resist the siren call of technocracy, if they understand and emphasize the differences between their own work and the fantasies of religious rapturists, if they strive for humility and an honest recognition of their own human limitations, and most of all, if they will recognize that nothing is certain and that working to relieve suffering today is every bit as important as chasing the promises of future technological potential, then discussion of a Singularity and its pros and cons is a worthwhile effort.

And this is what fiction has already been exploring: leaving behind crude technological determinism for science fiction experiments on discontinuity. For profit, they may need to throw in Singularity zombies, the dead raised and ravenous for our brains, so they can massively increase their computing power....