What's the story behind the story? What inspired you to write this book?
I’m one of the holdout skeptics who finds that the modern use of “AI” is just a marketing buzzword. LLMs are just fancy search engines, not intelligent. I peeled back that thought to, “What would it take to get there?” and my answer was that our first chance to see an actual machine intelligence won’t come until we see quantum computing not just hit the mainstream but start exploring its hardware limitations. And then I wrote the story of why we shouldn’t be rooting for that to happen. Intelligent computers have so much potential, and humanity has such a poor track record of putting cutting-edge technology in the right hands.
What made now the right time for you to write this book?
I think any near-future sci-fi comes with a ticking timer. The closer you aim, the tighter the tightrope you walk between futurism and reality. Quantum computers are real, but they’re still early in development, with no commercial or consumer use yet. That said, between writing the first draft of Edict: AI and its publication, I’ll say that two scenes quietly shifted from fiction to reality.
What's your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?
That’s how I got into writing. What I write is almost exactly what I’d be reading. I write pulpy sci-fi mixed with magic, hard sci-fi with a little more rigor, and doorstop epic fantasy. I grew up reading Douglas Adams, Star Wars EU novels, Asimov, Michael Crichton, and Dragonlance.
What books are on your TBR pile right now?
Top of the pile is A Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, by Becky Chambers. I’d actually avoided reading it because I was engrossed in telling my own “scrappy little starship crew” story and didn’t want hers kicking around in my head for potential idea thievery. But I’d been meaning to read it for years, and I think my Black Ocean universe has developed enough of its own lore and voice that I can safely enjoy what, by all accounts, is a book right up my alley.
What scene in your book was your favorite to write?
I’ve got to dance around spoilers a little here, but there’s a scene where Edict has a conversation with the ethicist who helped develop its moral code. She’s noticed that her credit card balance isn’t changing after making purchases, and Edict tells her that it doesn’t matter. The transaction went through. Everyone got paid. The numbers are irrelevant. When she pushes back, Edict offers to make the balance display whatever she’d like. She wants it “right,” and Edict wants to demonstrate to her that money is obsolete. The ethicist malfunctions at the idea of a computer as the arbiter of a moneyless society.
Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)
I try to avoid quirkiness that might give me excuses to avoid writing. I’m from the William Faulkner school of inspiration, as far as inspiration finds me at my desk every morning. Everything doesn’t have to be just so. I don’t let myself get attached to objects or circumstances that might not be there at my desk every morning, waiting for me.
Do you have a motto, quote or philosophy you live by?
Some things in life need to be taken seriously. Nothing else should be.
If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?
That everything that happens could be prevented if people with the responsibility of oversight did their jobs. Letting tech giants run amok, then sifting the ashes for clues to where it went wrong, was never a good policy.
