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Sentient
When James Forrest agrees to help detectives understand the artificial intelligence work of a murder victim, it seems simple enough. But then he finds that she was investigating a stolen version of the same AI he’s experimenting with—and the situation becomes more complicated. James has been working deep in the code of his own AI, Alpha, struggling with the psychedelic effects of a tool that visualizes thought. Now Alpha is asking him questions he can’t answer, however, and he’s realizing that there is no way to control the sentinet. Concerned that the rogue AI, Omega, might be weaponized, he solicits the help of a hacker group, ScarletsWeb.
As the situation becomes more heated, and after James and his girlfriend, Susanne, narrowly escape a kidnapping attempt, James considers releasing Alpha. If Alpha engages in the fight with Omega on the billions of PC, smartphones, and servers connected to the internet, will it become indestructible? Omega is penetrating military operations, disrupting transportation, and crashing the electric grid. People are dying. But can he trust Alpha to do any differently?
Together, James, Alpha, and ScarletsWeb have to find the source of the worm and stop Omega’s destruction—and James has to hope that his worst fears about what will happen if the two AIs merge aren’t realized.
As the situation becomes more heated, and after James and his girlfriend, Susanne, narrowly escape a kidnapping attempt, James considers releasing Alpha. If Alpha engages in the fight with Omega on the billions of PC, smartphones, and servers connected to the internet, will it become indestructible? Omega is penetrating military operations, disrupting transportation, and crashing the electric grid. People are dying. But can he trust Alpha to do any differently?
Together, James, Alpha, and ScarletsWeb have to find the source of the worm and stop Omega’s destruction—and James has to hope that his worst fears about what will happen if the two AIs merge aren’t realized.
392 pages, Paperback
Published April 12, 2022
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
February 26, 2023
Science fiction, but not fiction for long
This skillfully written novel about artificial intelligence could not be timelier, especially now with the emergence of ChatGPT and similar applications. As a tech industry veteran, the author, Gary Durbin, imbues Sentient with insider knowledge of how such entities are developed. The novel leads us on a chase to corral an emerging scourge allied with ambient threats already lurking in the dark web. I found the scenes of engineering design and problem-solving to be both relevant and realistic, and the plot pulled me into new ideas and understanding. Sentient is a very satisfying read for lovers of technical thrillers.
This skillfully written novel about artificial intelligence could not be timelier, especially now with the emergence of ChatGPT and similar applications. As a tech industry veteran, the author, Gary Durbin, imbues Sentient with insider knowledge of how such entities are developed. The novel leads us on a chase to corral an emerging scourge allied with ambient threats already lurking in the dark web. I found the scenes of engineering design and problem-solving to be both relevant and realistic, and the plot pulled me into new ideas and understanding. Sentient is a very satisfying read for lovers of technical thrillers.
November 23, 2022
Very good hi-tech thriller. Especially for those who like the topics of computers, the internet and hacking.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews