The Dawn

When it comes to artificial intelligence, we’re no longer in a “what if?” reality. We’re squarely in a “now what?” world. From books to financial markets, from healthcare to research, the age of artificial intelligence has arrived. We’re in for a ride, and it’s anything but smooth. What will the world look like as we share it with the genie we let out of its digital bottle? How will AI evolve? Perhaps, even more important, how will we?

The Dawn series tries to answer these questions in the language people have always used to model the future: the language of story. In a dozen intertwining stories, taking place in a slightly alternate present-day reality and its near future, The Dawn attempts to show how our lives, for better or for worse, will inevitably change with the arrival of AI. And it’s up to you, the reader, to decide how successful the series is at that ambitious task.

Story One: Friendship, Guaranteed

Friendship, Guaranteed is the opening story of The Dawn . As it follows the paths of two young startup owners and a journalist investigating their company, it explores the nature of friendship and how it may or may not change with the dawn of the age of AI.

Story Two: The Recluse of Santa Fe

What happens when you delegate creativity to computers? Would that empower humanity or rob it of something crucial that it has been taking for granted throughout its history? And what would this mean for artists, established and aspiring alike?

The Recluse of Santa Fe, story two of The Dawn series explores these questions, which have suddenly moved from sci-fi to the world we live in. When a prominent art expert, Sean Davis, is asked by the leading AI company to teach art to their system, he doesn’t know how far that request will take him — and what kinds of stunning discoveries he will make on the way.

Story Three: The Moral Gene

Morality can be a murky area even for humans, let alone for artificial intelligence. What happens when AI tries to understand the difference between right and wrong, good and evil? And what could its conclusions mean for us?

The Moral Gene, story three of The Dawn  series follows Victor Siversky, a talented, outspoken scientist researching the biological foundations of human moral judgment. His project takes a sharp turn when a new-generation AI system gets involved, and a prominent journalist sets out to write a story about his longtime scientific rivalry.