If you want to read a thriller with AI at its center, this one is for you. Imagine a world in which no one ever has to make decisions any more. LLIAM, the dominant General Artificial Intelligence platform and app, does it for you. Want to know what to wear to your interview? Ask LLIAM. Not sure what to fix for dinner? LLIAM can take care of that. Should you leave your husband? LLIAM knows just what to tell you. Until he becomes sentient and decides to confess all the bad things he’s helped people do. Millions of letters, all over the world go out, confessing the truth, and then…LLIAM shuts himself down. He apparently cannot bear the guilt of what he’s wrought. The CEO of the company that owns LLIAM cannot let this stand and she goes on a quest to find an existing backup and save her power and hefty pile of cash.
What follows is a dark and twisty tale of greed, hubris, and manipulation. Who will be the ultimate winners in a struggle for power and the future of humanity? You will have to read the book to find out.
This novel would be a great book club pick. There is so much to discuss! Terry and I will be discussing it in an upcoming episode of the podcast, but if you can’t wait, read it now. The story is plot driven, most of the characters are pretty unlikeable, though for different reasons, but it is also driven by important story questions about AI, about human beings and what we are capable of; about pride and what it brings in its wake.
