On October 14, 2026, Prof. Yao Dadui of the School of Humanities, Hainan University (HNU) published an English science-fiction story Becoming Real in the Futures section of the prestigious journal Nature, together with an author’s reflection in the same issue. Blending a classical literary foundation with philosophical insights into cutting-edge science and technology, the story centers on artificial intelligence and explores the ultimate choice between digital immortality and the finitude of human life, conveying profound humanistic compassion.

Nature’s Futures section is a globally renowned forum for hard science fiction and winner of the European Science Fiction Society’s “Best Science Fiction Publication” award. Each work in the section is assigned a unique Digital Object Identifier (DOI) and features specially commissioned artistic illustrations. Leveraging Nature’s vast global readership of top scientists and scholars, the section boasts strong international reach and cross-disciplinary influence spanning the humanities and sciences.

As a scholar deeply rooted in comparative literature, Professor Yao Dadui brings a distinctive literary perspective to this interdisciplinary work, which draws strength from the university’s innovation‑nurturing academic and humanistic environment. The publication also demonstrates humanities scholars’ capacity to grapple with defining questions of our tech-driven era. This groundbreaking achievement showcases to the global academic community the creative vitality and international influence of HNU’s humanities disciplines. It also provides a strong benchmark for the university’s development of emerging, distinctive directions in the humanities, marking a solid step forward in the global advancement of HNU’s New Humanities Initiative.

Full text of the story: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-026-03114-y

Translated by Peng Tiantian

Proofread by Feng Jun