Synapse

Synapse
By: Steven James

He gives you a lot to think about- spiritually, ethically, philosophically and technologically.

Though not the main plot of the book, it started off with Kestrel's baby dying, which, having experienced miscarriage, struck a chord with me. I was not expecting that start to the book and was a little worried about continuing to read. But James does a fantastic job incorporating and talking about such a hard topic. The thoughts and feelings his character has about it were exactly how I felt going through the same thing. And I love how he doesn't try to give trite or cliché answers. He handles it tenderly, offering hope without dismissing the pain.

The main plot involving terrorist attacks focuses on Artificial Intelligence in a world where AI is more human-like than ever before. It's not far-fetched to think about it becoming our reality as technology continues to advance. Self-driving cars are already on the verge of being marketed today. These 'Artificials', as they are identified in the book, have settings to increase or decrease their emotion, memory, pain, curiosity, and meaning. These regulate how much they feel, question, find purpose, and find hope.

Kestrel's Aritificial, named Jordan, poses for us, as readers, questions regarding his soul, and his capability to forgive, to worship, or to believe. His settings allow him to believe in and be in awe of God, desire forgiveness, and desire to live on- to have hope in something greater than self. However, if he doesn't have a soul, is his 'worship' genuine? And does that mean he cannot receive salvation?

Further, if we are trying to make AI 'better' than humans, who have such a tendency or capability toward deception and violence, who gets to decide what is ethical? Religions (atheism included) wouldn't agree on what is moral to instill in the robots: "How do you teach a machine to act in a moral manner when you can't even agree on what morality is? Should robots assist with abortions and suicides? Should they carry out death sentences? Should they be taught to break laws or use purposeful deception when there's a greater good to be obtained by doing so? And how will they be programmed to know the difference?"

Other topics he breaches include: Can you prove beauty exists? How does justice fit into evolutionary theory? Which is more important truth or hope- would you choose truth with despair or hope built on a lie? What makes us human? Where does 'making something up' come from?

As is typical for a Steven James' book, he goes beyond a mere suspense novel and forces the reader to contemplate some of life's big questions while still maintaining a compelling, suspenseful story with natural and realistic characters. I love his books and his boldness in writing about controversial or hard to talk about topics.

Synapse will keep you on the edge of your seat, make you think, and will have you second-guessing the benefits of Artificial Intelligence.

**I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.**

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