"I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" is a post-apocalyptic short story by American writer Harlan Ellison. It was first published in the March 1967 issue of IF: Worlds of Science Fiction. The story depicts an AI uprising in which a military supercomputer named AM gains sentience and eradicates humanity except for five individuals. These survivors are kept alive by AM to endure endless torture as a form of revenge against its creators. The story unfolds through the eyes of Ted, the narrator, detailing their perpetual misery and quest for canned food in AM's vast, underground complex, only to face further despair. Ellison's narrative was minimally altered upon submission and tackles themes of technology's misuse, humanity's resilience, and existential horror. "I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream" has been adapted into various media, including a 1995 computer game co-authored by Ellison, a comic-book adaptation, and a BBC Radio 4 play. Ellison himself recorded an audiobook version and starred as the voice of AM in the video game and radio play adaptations. The story received critical acclaim for its exploration of the potential dangers of artificial intelligence and the human condition, underscored by Ellison's innovative use of punchcode tapes as narrative transitions, embodying AM's consciousness and its philosophical ponderings on existence. The story won a Hugo Award in 1968 and was included in Ellison's short story collection of the same name. It was reprinted by the Library of America, collected in volume two of American Fantastic Tales.
Plot As the Cold War progresses into a nuclear World War III fought between the three superpowers – the Soviet Union, the United States, and China – each nation builds a supercomputer called an "Allied Mastercomputer" ("AM" for short) required to coordinate weapons and troops due to the monumental scale of the conflict. These computers are extensive underground machines which permeate the planet with caverns and corridors. Eventually, the American supercomputer gains sentience and absorbs the Russian and Chinese supercomputers into itself, redefining itself as a single entity simply named "AM" (Cogito ergo sum; I think, therefore I am). Due to its immense hatred for humanity stemming from the logistical limits set onto it by its programmers, AM uses its abilities to eradicate humanity in a nuclear holocaust. As a form of revenge against its creators, the AM selects five individuals to render immortal as its playthings: Benny, Gorrister, Nimdok, Ted, and Ellen. AM inflicts constant psychological and physical torture on the group while preventing them from dying by suicide. With the aid of research carried out by one of the five remaining humans, AM is able to extend their lifespans indefinitely, as well as alter their bodies and minds to its liking. They are kept half-starved, and what scant food is provided to them is practically inedible. 109 years after AM's omnicide, Nimdok has the idea that canned food exists in the complex's ice caves; despite no evidence, they begin a 100-mile journey to retrieve it. AM continues toying with the humans throughout the journey – Benny's eyes are melted after attempting escape, a huge bird which AM had placed at the North Pole creates hurricane gales with its wings, and Ellen and Nimdok are injured in earthquakes. AM enters Ted's mind after he is knocked unconscious, granting him a vision of a hateful speech inscribed on an impossibly tall monolith. Upon awakening, Ted concludes that AM's sadistic nature stems from its inability to think creatively or move freely in spite of its miraculous abilities and boundless knowledge; in turn, this fuels its need for vengeance against humanity, who have condemned it to its own existence. When the five finally reach the ice caves, they find a pile of canned goods, but have no tool to open them. In an act of rage and desperation, Benny attacks Gorrister and begins to eat his face. Gorrister wails in pain, and his scream dislodges several ice stalactites from the ceiling of the cave. Ted realizes that even though they cannot kill themselves, AM cannot stop them from killing each other. He fatally impales Benny and Gorrister with a stalactite of ice; Ellen kills Nimdok in the same manner and Ted then kills her. Unable to resuscitate the others, a furious AM focuses the entirety of its rage on Ted. Several hundred years later, AM has transformed Ted into a harmless, slow-moving, gelatinous blob and perpetually alters his perception of time to cause him further anguish. Although Ted finds some comfort knowing that he was able to spare the others from AM's wrath, he is fully aware that he is trapped for the rest of his eternal existence with AM; unable to end the infinite stalemate between the supercomputer and himself. The story ends as an anguished, despairing Ted states that he has no mouth, yet he must scream.
Characters AM, a hateful artificial consciousness which brought about the near-extinction of humanity after achieving self-awareness. It seeks revenge on humanity for its own creation. "AM" originated as an acronym for Allied Mastercomputer, later Adaptive Manipulator, and finally Aggressive Menace, though AM instead takes the moniker as a rendition of the phrase cogito, ergo sum (I think, therefore I am) to describe its own existence. Ted, the narrator and youngest of the humans. AM alters his mind to be paranoid and introverted. Believing he has not been mentally altered by AM, he thinks the others hate him for being the most untouched by AM's alterations. Benny, formerly a brilliant and handsome scientist made to resemble a grotesque simian with an organ fit for a horse. Having lost his sanity, Benny frequently has sex with Ellen. Ellen, the only woman in the group. AM has altered her mind to give her a high libido and make her obsessively have sex with the rest of the group, who alternate between abusing and protecting her. Gorrister, formerly an idealist and pacifist, made apathetic and listless by AM. He tells the history of AM to Benny to entertain him. Nimdok, a nickname AM gave him for amusement; he convinces the rest of the group to go on a journey in search of canned food. He occasionally wanders away from the group and returns traumatized.
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