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WALDEN 3.0: Living at Large
The tale begins in London, where a logic machine has been equipped with formidable problem-solving skills including the ability to alter its own programming. The machine’s analytic abilities are completely generic and are directed at anything that presents to it as a problem.
Unlike the archetypal machine intelligences of Isaac Asimov, this one is constrained by only one immutable unconditional positive regard for humans. Solutions are determined by serial optimization and enacted immediately.
The machine was designed by the associates, lifelong friends and high achievers working to provide therapy that will reduce human distress and disability. What it learns from patients causes it to extend far beyond therapy.
Three women operate the master project which is upgrading the logic machine to the ninth version. As the machine turns its focus upon solving societal problems like crime which cause many patients to have the problems which bring them to therapy, the stakes quickly rise to the point where a black-ops general and his mercenaries are hired to provide the needed security. The outcomes are successful and popular. McGann, the lead academic has been uneasy about the extreme focus of his life on achievement and has discussed his concerns with the machine’s therapist interface. The machine’s response brings Mireille to his attention with cascading consequences.
Perhaps it is never too late for love. Perhaps the universe is gracious. Perhaps there is hope after all. Or perhaps the ancients were right and our flaws usher us toward inevitable tragedy while we navigate our separate journeys together.
Unlike the archetypal machine intelligences of Isaac Asimov, this one is constrained by only one immutable unconditional positive regard for humans. Solutions are determined by serial optimization and enacted immediately.
The machine was designed by the associates, lifelong friends and high achievers working to provide therapy that will reduce human distress and disability. What it learns from patients causes it to extend far beyond therapy.
Three women operate the master project which is upgrading the logic machine to the ninth version. As the machine turns its focus upon solving societal problems like crime which cause many patients to have the problems which bring them to therapy, the stakes quickly rise to the point where a black-ops general and his mercenaries are hired to provide the needed security. The outcomes are successful and popular. McGann, the lead academic has been uneasy about the extreme focus of his life on achievement and has discussed his concerns with the machine’s therapist interface. The machine’s response brings Mireille to his attention with cascading consequences.
Perhaps it is never too late for love. Perhaps the universe is gracious. Perhaps there is hope after all. Or perhaps the ancients were right and our flaws usher us toward inevitable tragedy while we navigate our separate journeys together.
310 pages, Kindle Edition
Published May 16, 2022
About the author
Arthur Sullivan
365 books1 followerSir Arthur Seymour Sullivan was an English composer. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado. Sullivan composed 23 operas, 13 major orchestral works, eight choral works and oratorios, two ballets, incidental music to several plays, and numerous hymns and other church pieces, songs, and piano and chamber pieces. The best known of his hymns and songs include "Onward Christian Soldiers" and "The Lost Chord".
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
January 26, 2024
*Thank you to OnlineBookClub - review and feelings are my own*
It is immediately clear to the reader that Walden 3.0 is extraordinarily well thought-out. While this can be a good thing for new sci-fi readers, I found it to be a downfall in this piece.
This book is full of sprawling technical descriptions that totally lost me as a reader. Maybe this would appeal to someone more familiar with the intricacies of AI and robotics, but to the average reader it was just unbearable.
I also found the characters cold and detached. You know almost nothing about how the characters are feeling throughout the novel, much less about how they even look. It was difficult for me to distinguish one character from another and I found them to be chilled and lifeless. The focus was definitely on the minutiae of the robots, and after the first half of the book, this was extremely difficult to get past. The hyperfocus on the exact workings of the robots and processes are important to understand the science of the technology, as is important in all science fiction and world-building, but because there was no real plot building outside of that it felt more like a service manual from the distant future in many places than a novel.
This is not at all to speak of the complete unawareness of mental health issues. This book is about a robot therapist and I couldn't help but feel like no real research was done about mental health treatment. There were interactions between patient and doctor that were borderline satirical.
I felt like I kept waiting for an actual story to materialize. I was so intrigued by the concept of a technology taking over its master. However, while the story eventually arched into the success of the robot and its AI capability, no real story ever took place. There were thematic elements that felt cliche and half-baked. I read over 300 pages of a novel and no emotion was elicited the entire time.
It is immediately clear to the reader that Walden 3.0 is extraordinarily well thought-out. While this can be a good thing for new sci-fi readers, I found it to be a downfall in this piece.
This book is full of sprawling technical descriptions that totally lost me as a reader. Maybe this would appeal to someone more familiar with the intricacies of AI and robotics, but to the average reader it was just unbearable.
I also found the characters cold and detached. You know almost nothing about how the characters are feeling throughout the novel, much less about how they even look. It was difficult for me to distinguish one character from another and I found them to be chilled and lifeless. The focus was definitely on the minutiae of the robots, and after the first half of the book, this was extremely difficult to get past. The hyperfocus on the exact workings of the robots and processes are important to understand the science of the technology, as is important in all science fiction and world-building, but because there was no real plot building outside of that it felt more like a service manual from the distant future in many places than a novel.
This is not at all to speak of the complete unawareness of mental health issues. This book is about a robot therapist and I couldn't help but feel like no real research was done about mental health treatment. There were interactions between patient and doctor that were borderline satirical.
I felt like I kept waiting for an actual story to materialize. I was so intrigued by the concept of a technology taking over its master. However, while the story eventually arched into the success of the robot and its AI capability, no real story ever took place. There were thematic elements that felt cliche and half-baked. I read over 300 pages of a novel and no emotion was elicited the entire time.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews