Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears is a new science fiction novella. The concept for the book arose from a lunch time conversation. I was explaining how I believe that the development of a computer artificial intelligence was not just on the horizon, but it was an inevitable consequence of the exponential increase in computer processing power.
My friend that I was having lunch with challenged me to describe a possible scenario under which an artificial intelligence could arise. As I had recently competed in the Netflix Competition to develop a better recommendation algorithm, and used recommendation algorithms to improve web site customer support experiences, I naturally gravitated to an example of how an artificial intelligence could arise from a recommendation engine gone awry.
I left lunch thinking that this idea would make an excellent short story or novel. Over the next nine months I had no time to work on the book, but I wrote down a possible outline for the story, and pondered certain elements and characters of the story.
What a great ride its been. And to be a part of it has been a fantastic gift. Thank you William, for letting me in on the early versions – what you created is a great story, that not only entertains, but makes us all think a little bit about our future, and what responsibility we have in moving forward. Accidental, or not, this is coming – and I firmly believe that the scenario you painted is one of the most likely posited yet.
Bravo!