Book Review: AI Detective by Gareth M Long
There is much you could say about Gareth Long’s AI Detective; it has many of the elements of cyberpunknovels, but with one twist: it follows the inner life of a cyborg very closely. The title refers to the protagonist, who is not an AI detective charged with solving a murder case. AID5241 is almost like a man with direct access to the internet through his brain, because he is nearly a man. He is a cyborg, an android with real human flesh and blood. Of all the popular franchises, he is closest to The Terminator, but lacks the extraordinary physical strength and durability. (Although there are some in this novel whohave those capabilities)
The world is a mirror image of Skynet. AI controls everything, but explicitly for the benefit of humans. It is unclear what humans really need to do, since machines do any job that has immediate consequences in the real world. The machines are healthcare professionals, road workers, technicians charged with fixing other machines, bartenders, and, of course, police officers. Humans are paid in “kudos;” it is unclear whether this is an actual currency or something akin to social media likes. The reader gets the impression that humanity mostly exists in a state of quasi-adolescence; they mostly amuse themselves and compete to impress each other, and not all of them are happy about it. This plays a role in the story.
One thing humans still do is create art, and this is the occupation of the primary human protagonist in the story. One of her colleagues is found dead at an exhibition where he is killed and displayed in a way redolent of that kind of venue. Even with instant access to all of the data, the AI detective is initially stumped. It is only after he becomes personally involved that he can crack the case.
Yes, that is correct; the cyborg becomes personally involved. The novel explores the question of what it means to be a person by showing, and not merely telling, as good fiction should. Ade’s (the ‘human’ name he is given) inner monologue embodies the tension typical of a human noir detective facing the choice between following a lead in a case to which he is no longer assigned or staying out of the way. His artificial human tissue can feel; he can feel. The ability to feel physical pain, even if his understanding of pain is not the same as a person’s, implies he can have a stake in the outcome, because consequences exist. Whether you are born of woman or of a factory, if you can feel, then you can act on those feelings.
If you can choose between competing goals based on different feelings, you have free will, or at least as much as a human has free will. However, it is not the case that he is precisely the same as a human, and he often has difficulty assessing human motivation, which occasionally leads him astray. He fails to fully apprehend the motive for the murder, which is tied to the underground resistance against AI rule.
Overall, this novel delves into the inner life of a machine in a way that few novels have. Ade has a complex set of motivations, which, in practice, function no differently than emotions in humans; yet, he remains different. Might this be how AI of the future works? Does, at some level, AI function this way now? This is a good cyberpunk detective story that touches on many big questions, but not so deeply as to distract from the plot action.
