Machines Like Me: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, 2019 reviewed

Machines Like Me: A Novel, 2019 reviewed

By @SimonCocking review of Machines Like Me: A Novel Hardcover – Deckle Edge, April 23, 2019, by Ian McEwan. Available from Amazon here.

By Ian McEwan, Booker Prize winner and international bestselling author of Atonement and The Children Act 

Machines Like Me takes place in an alternative 1980s London. Charlie, drifting through life and dodging full-time employment, is in love with Miranda, a bright student who lives with a terrible secret. When Charlie comes into money, he buys Adam, one of the first synthetic humans and—with Miranda’s help—he designs Adam’s personality. The near-perfect human that emerges is beautiful, strong, and clever. It isn’t long before a love triangle soon forms, and these three beings confront a profound moral dilemma. 

In his subversive new novel, Ian McEwan asks whether a machine can understand the human heart—or whether we are the ones who lack understanding.

This book is a knowing nod to a lot of current AI questions, when is something or someone sentient? Can or will machines achieve consciousness? Will the Turing test even be meaningful criteria once AI / machines can respond with a sufficient level of believability that we, as humans are willing to believe they are real. And so, perhaps like  René Descartes once suggested ‘Cogito, ergo sum’, if a robot with AI says I think, therefore I am, then perhaps that should be good enough for everyone.

This being a novel by Ian McEwan it naturally plays out a few more elements, in a dramatised way, to give us a story to get our teeth into. The alternative 1980s is done in a knowing and humorous way, referring to ‘literary classics’ such as Catch 18 and others, as well as the near assassination of Kennedy in the 60s. While this time around a British PM does not survive a Brighton bombing.

The resurection and celebration of an alternative past and future for Alan Turing is also poignant and a little sad, as it reminds us of how much more he could have achieved if he was not pilloried for his sexuality. It is clearly McEwan’s intention to make us lament for what could have been if Turing was allowed to just get on with following his own brilliance rather than being punished for homosexuality.

The book mostly centers around an AI called Adam, but others and Eve are mentioned in the book, and an Eve is on the back cover too, so it was a little disappointing that they did not feature more  in the book. However the storyline follows a smart progression of AIs trying to come to terms with the deeply contradictory elements of what is required to function and thrive as a human in our society. Overall it is a thought provoking read, and a good addition to the genre of speculative fiction in terms of AI and what our future may hold for us.

More information about Irish Tech News and the Business Showcase

FYI the ROI for you is => Irish Tech News now gets over 1.5 million monthly views, and up to 900k monthly unique visitors, from over 160 countries. We have over 860,000 relevant followers on Twitter on our various accounts & were recently described as Ireland’s leading online tech news site and Ireland’s answer to TechCrunch, so we can offer you a good audience!

Since introducing desktop notifications a short time ago, which notify readers directly in their browser of new articles being published, over 16000 people have now signed up to receive them ensuring they are instantly kept up to date on all our latest content. Desktop notifications offer a unique method of serving content directly to verified readers and bypass the issue of content getting lost in people’s crowded news feeds.

Drop us a line if you want to be featured, guest post, suggest a possible interview, or just let us know what you would like to see more of in our future articles. We’re always open to new and interesting suggestions for informative and different articles. Contact us, by email, twitter or whatever social media works for you and hopefully we can share your story too and reach our global audience.

If you would like to have your company featured in the Irish Tech News Business Showcase, get in contact with us at Simon@IrishTechNews.ie or on Twitter: @SimonCocking