5 Novels That Predicted Our Unease With AI Chatbots
Artificial intelligence has long been a topic of science fiction writing and authors like Isaac Asimov, Philip K. Dick, and William Gibson, to name a few, have helped form our popular imagination of robots, AI, and the relationship between humans and machines. Having a conversation with an AI machine is no longer far-fetched—we talk to our phones, our computers, our cars—and as AI chatbots like ChatGPT and others start to be available and integrated into search engines and other technology, we're just seeing the beginning of how we will converse and interact with AI machines in the future. (Take New York Times reporter Kevin Roose's recent uncomfortable, and to many—alarming, conversation with Bing's chat function that suggested he was unhappy in his marriage and, furthermore, professed its love.)
While much of classic science fiction writing about AI has focused on the dangers, often physical, of robot uprisings and humans losing control over technology, contemporary authors are also exploring the emotional and existential hazards of engaging with sophisticated AI that increasingly acts sentient. The novels below lean more toward literary fiction than science fiction and prompt us to think about what makes us human—and whether it can be programmed.
Klara and the Sun
by Kazuo Ishiguro
Here is the story of Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, who, from her place in the store, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her. Klara and the Sun is a thrilling book that offers a look at our changing world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator, and one that explores the fundamental question: what does it mean to love?
Plum Rains
by Andromeda Romano-Lax
In a near-future Tokyo transformed by a population crisis and AI-enhanced medicine, a Filipina nurse worries she will lose her job to an eerily perceptive robot that draws out the secrets of their moody centenarian employer.
Machines Like Me: And People Like You
by Ian McEwan
In an alternative 1980s London, Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first synthetic humans and—with Miranda's help—he designs Adam's personality. The near-perfect human that emerges is beautiful, strong, and clever. It isn't long before a love triangle soon forms, and these three beings confront a profound moral dilemma.
The Mother Code
by Carole Stivers
The year is 2049. When a deadly non-viral agent intended for biowarfare spreads out of control, scientists must scramble to ensure the survival of the human race. They turn to their last resort, a plan to place genetically engineered children inside the cocoons of large-scale robots—to be incubated, birthed, and raised by machines. But there is yet one hope of preserving the human order: an intelligence programmed into these machines that renders each unique in its own right—the Mother Code. Set in a future that could be our own, The Mother Code explores what truly makes us human—and the tenuous nature of the boundaries between us and the machines we create.
Barren Cove
by Ariel S. Winter
The aged robot Sapien is the recent victim of a debilitating accident. The socially acceptable thing to do in robot culture is deactivate, but Sapien is not ready to end his life. Instead, he orders spare parts for himself and rents a remote beach house in order to repair and ponder why he wants to go on. While there, he becomes obsessed with his landlords, the peculiar robot family living on the rambling estate perched at the top of the cliff. He is convinced that the elusive and enigmatic Beachstone, the head of the family, holds the answers to his existential quandary.
Summaries provided via NYPL’s catalog, which draws from multiple sources. Click through to each book’s title for more.