Sudbury author Scott Overton releases his 10th book, “Zenith: Aftermath,” on Oct. 31, focusing on the subject of artificial intelligence in a science fiction context.
A group of unsuspecting people are transported into a world where the human race might be extinct, but other entities may have taken our place.
In the past year it’s become impossible to ignore the technology known as AI — artificial
intelligence, said a press release from Overton. For now, the applications called AIs are very sophisticated but don’t really think for themselves as we understand the term.
Yet, the intent is that computer science will eventually create minds that achieve independent thought: having motivations of their own, setting goals, and taking actions to reach them. Maybe even using imagination.
The idea of thinking beings being created by human science has been around for centuries. (Does the name Frankenstein ring a bell?) But we seem to be getting closer to achieving it through digital technology.
Computer-generated virtual realities have also led to the speculation that humans may one day give up our physical bodies and transfer our consciousness into a simulated world, like a completely immersive video game indistinguishable from reality.
Are those scenarios what the future holds for the human race?
In Overton’s new science fiction novel “Zenith: Aftermath,” a group of VIPs taking part in a spectacular promotional stunt aboard the super-high-speed Zenith Train are instead transported to a world where human beings have vanished.
In an uncanny forest of silent clearings surrounded by grim trees, the survivors see no other signs of life. No food. No water. And then a voice speaks to them from the air.
“It’s a story of compelling characters facing a desperate situation,” says Overton. “Not only do they have to find a way to survive, but they also have to cope with the fear that they might be the last of their kind. And if that’s true, do they represent a second chance for humanity? Do they have a responsibility to somehow try to save humankind from extinction?”
Overton points out that, long before there were computers, philosophers wondered if what we experience as “the real world” might be only some sort of simulation. And in modern times, movies like “The Matrix” and TV shows like the recent series “Upload” have brought the concept closer to the mainstream.
But how many of us have ever thought about what a life without a physical body would be like? Or, similarly, whether a purely digital consciousness could ever experience the sensations we cherish (and sometimes dread). Could they ever really have feelings?
More importantly, would their interests and goals align with ours? Or would they become rivals, competing with human beings for the resources of planet Earth?
“I’m often appalled by the reckless approach companies are taking in developing artificial intelligence,” Overton says. “Right now, AIs don’t really think or act on their own, but that’s what these companies are working toward with almost no oversight, letting greed outweigh caution. They’re not just making playthings, or even clever servants. They may be creating our replacements.”
“The characters in ‘Zenith: Aftermath’ face a life-and-death crisis, and while some of the beings they encounter seem friendly and helpful, others are clearly predators.
“Who can they trust? How can they trust anyone whose thought processes and motivations are so alien to our own? Especially when what’s at stake isn’t just their own survival, but the ultimate fate of the whole human race.”
A well-known radio morning host for more than 25 years in Sudbury, Overton has built a second career as an author. His radio-themed debut novel “Dead Air” was shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award in 2012, and his science fiction novels such as “The Primus Labyrinth,” “Naïda,” “The Dispossession of Dylan Knox,” “Indigent Earth” and “Oceanus” have been well-received too, with readers comparing them to the work of Michael Crichton.
Robert J. Sawyer, the multiple-award-winning ‘dean of Canadian science fiction’, said of Overton’s thriller “Augment Nation”: “Scott Overton is a terrific writer and his vision of tomorrow is both realistic and frightening.”
With a publication date of Oct. 31, Overton plans to have lots of copies of “Zenith: Aftermath” available at the Sudbury Market in Elm Place, downtown Sudbury, on Saturday, Nov. 1 and at various events throughout the Greater Sudbury area after that.
"Zenith: Aftermath" and all of Overton’s books are also available online in eBook and print.
If they aren’t in stock at your favourite local store, they can be ordered, or ask for them at your local branch of the Sudbury Public Library.