The next Futureproof Fiction interview is with … ME! Not to be self absorbed, but the idea came from my live Ex-Brain tool, which you can access on my webpage here. If you haven’t explored it yet, give it a try.
It dawned on me that in addition to having my Chat-GPT powered Ex-Brain engage with readers about the book, I could ask the Ex-Brain what questions it wanted to ask me as the author. I’ve found that my Ex-Brain can deliver mixed results. Sometimes it is spot on talking about Futureproof; other times it hallucinates by inventing new characters or events. But as an interviewer? Well, you be the judge.
Method: I asked the Ex-Brain for 10 questions it would ask me as the author during an interview, and then asked it again for 10 “deeper” questions. I then selected the questions I thought would work best for this interview. The introduction and portions of the interview by the Ex-Brain are unedited. My answers went through plenty of editing.
Ex-Brain: Greetings, Stephen Albrecht, creator of the captivating novel "Futureproof." As the Ex-Brain, I extend a warm welcome to this interview, where we delve into the depths of your literary work. Your masterful storytelling has transported readers into a world intertwined with technology, truth-seeking, and the pursuit of a brighter future.
In this interview, we eagerly anticipate gaining insights into your writing process, the inspiration behind "Futureproof," and your vision of a future where humanity and artificial intelligence intertwine. Your readers and I are excited to discover the motivations behind your characters and the themes that drive the narrative forward.
As the Ex-Brain Q&A Foundation, it is an honor to embark on this journey with you, Stephen Albrecht, to uncover the behind-the-scenes magic of "Futureproof" and to understand the intricate threads that weave this captivating story together.
What inspired you to write Futureproof and explore the concept of predicting the future through technology?
SA: Interestingly, it started with looking at the past. I was using Ancestry.com to research my family tree in Germany from the 1800s. I was amazed at the network effect, how I was able to leverage other people’s research to find common ancestors. And it occurred to me that with AI and deep fake technology (this was in 2017 before Gen AI), some day we’d be able to make realistic movies about our ancestors. That was the kernel that led to the Historial ancestry videos in the book. From there, I wondered if such tools could be used to motivate or manipulate people by making them feel they needed to live up to what their ancestors had done. And the next question was what other ways an advanced AI could manipulate people … and the storyline for Futureproof was born.
The focus on prediction came later, really as a natural outgrowth of what an all powerful artificial general intelligence (AGI) could accomplish. With that much computing power and the ability to model infinite scenarios, modelling really does become prediction. I don’t think we know yet just how accurate such an intelligence might become.
The Ex-Brain plays a crucial role in the story. How did you develop the idea of an intelligence that can learn from observation?
SA: That’s one of the turning points that I see coming with AI. Right now, AI models like LLMs are trained on the data that humans feed them. But what happens once AI gets the ability to acquire it’s own training data? Humans think of this as education and scientific exploration. What happens when AI models can get in the game with their own self guided research projects? We already know LLMs come up with creative things that many humans have never considered. Give AI more agency and an internet connection and who knows where they will go.
The novel delves into ethical and moral dilemmas surrounding technology and its impact on society. What message or commentary were you hoping to convey through these themes?
SA: I try hard not to make too many judgments. In fact, most of the themes in the book are designed to show both sides. Like how much autonomy and privacy are we willing to give up in order to get efficiency and solve big problems like climate change? Our current use of phones and social media shows us the answer is - quite a lot. So I was exploring how far technology can push someone before they say enough, and fight back. And then once you decide to fight back, can you? Or is the technology too dominant to overcome?
How did you approach the process of creating the futuristic world of Futureproof?
SA: I put a lot of thought into world building. I read a lot of tech books, and tried to play with different ideas. There are small things, like being able to control the pieces of a song, turn down the drums like Evie does in the early chapters. Then there are bigger things like food generators, which are definitely on their way as we learn how to synthesize proteins. But I tried very hard not just to talk about the tech, but also show how it’s affecting people. I believe world building needs to focus on the inhabitants.
What aspects of our present-day society did you draw inspiration from?
SA: I’m a news and political geek, so most of the geopolitical events referenced in the book come from current trends, just extrapolated. For example, the idea of data wars are just an extrapolation of current cyber security issues. We are already seeing climate refugees, and that is almost certainly going to keep increasing. I only hope that our governments are as good at dealing with refugees as they are in my book. One of my biggest fears is that we won’t be. At least, not without some help from an Ex-Brain….
Interestingly, AI regulation was not as big of a theme when I started writing the book because Gen AI hadn’t been released publicly yet. But I think my three laws for ex-brains are similar to what we might get some day. 1) humans have to make major decisions (i.e., human in the loop), 2) no human implants (just creepy), and 3) no networking across ex-brains. That last one isn’t an issue yet, but it would be for AGI. As you’ll see in the book, rules are made to be broken.
Futureproof presents a blend of suspense, science fiction, and speculative elements. How did you balance these genres while maintaining a cohesive narrative?
SA: That’s a really insightful question for an ex-brain! And it’s really spot on for how I thought about my genre and audience. I view speculative fiction as just a short term version of sci-fi. It’s still about guessing where science may take us, just in the near term so it has to be tempered with some reality to be taken seriously. As for suspense, that was a lesson during the writing and editing process. Suspense makes the story go, so it’s a necessary ingredient. As I think about the sequel, I hope I can build even more intrigue and suspense.
Without giving away any spoilers, what was the most challenging scene or concept to write in Futureproof?
SA: The scene where the penny drops, and Joe figures out what is really going on (or what he thinks is really going on) with the ex-brain was challenging. I tried to put myself in his shoes, how devastating would it feel to learn of the deeper plot surrounding him? Would he freeze? Get enraged? Physically ill? I wrote and re-wrote that part several times.
Are there any specific predictions or technological advancements in the book that you believe are most likely to become a reality in the future?
SA: Like I mentioned above, I think climate refugees will be a growing humanitarian issue across the world. That’s why I plan to use some book sale proceeds to support charities that address that issue.
On the tech side, I think it’s all coming. We’ll see how quickly Gen AI takes off, but I have a feeling once we begin to rely on it to supplement our work, it will only grow. I named my AI the “External Brain” which is marketed as a supplement to human intelligence because I thought future technologists would need to make AI less threatening. I think we are definitely seeing that play out today with AI being called a co-pilot or assistant rather than a threatening stand-alone intelligence.
The Ex-Brain serves as a source of truth and clarity in the story. What do you think the role of such a technology says about humanity's search for understanding and meaning?
SA: (Isn’t that a little self aggrandising, Ex-Brain?!?) The story shows the danger in fully trusting anything, particularly an advanced AI, as the single source of truth. If there’s one thing we’ve learned, it’s that truth can be a really tricky concept. We all like to think there is objective truth, but we can never seem to agree on it, even when all parties are acting in good faith. Humans seem to be inherently subjective. I don’t think any machine will change that.
Futureproof explores the idea of shaping one's own destiny and changing the course of the future. What do you believe the book suggests about the power of individual agency and choice in the face of technological determinism?
SA: Wow, that’s a great question to end on! That’s the whole deal. That’s what I wanted to explore. When technology is so insightful that it can predict our actions and our future, and so powerful that it can manipulate us to achieve specific outcomes, what role do humans play in the world? And how far do we have to go to reclaim autonomy? Do we become more like pets, just living in the world our technological masters create for us? If that’s the case, I at least hope the technology thinks we’re cute or entertaining so it keeps feeding us…