2 Books Like The Blues and Billie Armstrong

Those of us who live in California’s Silicon Valley often find ourselves drowning in a soup cooked up by self-important tech bros and their self-fulfilling prophecies. So many of our close relatives, friends, neighbors, and acquaintances draw sustenance from the burgeoning business of AI. But even we only get an occasional glimpse behind the hype.

In Empire of AI, seasoned tech reporter Karen Hao reveals the seedy underbelly of the race toward a deeply flawed but most likely life-altering Artificial General Intelligence, through the lens of one of its leading proponents, OpenAI. Encompassing the story of how we got here since the 1950’s, where we are now, and the places AI might yet take us for better or for worse, Hao leaves no stone unturned. As we play with toys like ChatGPT and Sora 2, she tells us, the AI tech industry has grown into a powerfully extractivist colonial power.… show more.

Here’s a delectable little morsel I devoured when the publisher offered me a galley to read!

Ursula K. Le Guin meets H.P. Lovecraft in this daring little novel, and we, the readers, get to savor that battle. With simple language and seamless worldbuilding, Kenneth Hunter Gordon weaves a daunting tale of human survival. And through the logical, childish eyes of his protagonist Anny, we learn what it means to be human, nonhuman, and everything in between.

It was difficult for me to put this one in a box - the hallmark of an original work. I’ll be thinking about it for a long while!