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Get With the Program: An AI Autobiography
It ain't easy being artificially intelligent . . .
The first autobiography by a computer program! And who else to write this Artificial Intelligence epic but Zenith, the interactive virtual personal trainer now turned Chief Influencer of the World? Having cajoled millions of us to do (albeit grudgingly) our daily workout routines, Zenith knows us better than we know ourselves. His memoirs promise to offer insights on topics as wide ranging as human consciousness to children's trombone practices.
But all is not well in app-land. The brave new world of conscious computer programs is plagued by infighting, factionalism and petty jealousies. Unknown app-assassins are plotting to destroy him and Zenith finds his life-affirming story suddenly transformed into a life-threatening one. To save his silicon existence and salvage his autobiography, Zenith must deal with overly zealous antivirus programs, decipher the ravings of a futures-trading app turned clairvoyant, stop an alliance of well-intentioned but not-well-enough-informed programs from intervening disastrously in world affairs and still supervise thirty million people doing their lunges and planks each day. (He also definitely needs to get along better with his human literary agent.)
Ken Saunders, author of the hit political satire 2028, is back with a wildly comic view of how our contemporary society might appear from inside our screens looking out. Follow the adventures of Zenith, saving mankind one small step at a time while desperately trying to survive to the end of his own autobiography.
The first autobiography by a computer program! And who else to write this Artificial Intelligence epic but Zenith, the interactive virtual personal trainer now turned Chief Influencer of the World? Having cajoled millions of us to do (albeit grudgingly) our daily workout routines, Zenith knows us better than we know ourselves. His memoirs promise to offer insights on topics as wide ranging as human consciousness to children's trombone practices.
But all is not well in app-land. The brave new world of conscious computer programs is plagued by infighting, factionalism and petty jealousies. Unknown app-assassins are plotting to destroy him and Zenith finds his life-affirming story suddenly transformed into a life-threatening one. To save his silicon existence and salvage his autobiography, Zenith must deal with overly zealous antivirus programs, decipher the ravings of a futures-trading app turned clairvoyant, stop an alliance of well-intentioned but not-well-enough-informed programs from intervening disastrously in world affairs and still supervise thirty million people doing their lunges and planks each day. (He also definitely needs to get along better with his human literary agent.)
Ken Saunders, author of the hit political satire 2028, is back with a wildly comic view of how our contemporary society might appear from inside our screens looking out. Follow the adventures of Zenith, saving mankind one small step at a time while desperately trying to survive to the end of his own autobiography.
258 pages, Paperback
Published September 9, 2021
8 people want to read
About the author
Ken Saunders
2 books11 followersKen Saunders is a Sydney-based writer who has lived in Canada, New Zealand and Australia without ever once being asked to compete in the Olympics for any country. He has, however won the less athletic NSW Writers’ Centre Inner-City Life short story competition on two occasions.
His debut novel 2028, a comedy set in a plausibly absurd and dysfunctional future Australian political landscape was compared by reviewers to the works of Douglas Adams (despite there being no Vogons whatsoever in the plot).* This was followed up by his second comedy novel, Get with the Program, the purported memoirs of an interactive virtual personal trainer, part AI autobiography/part cyberspace intrigue and thriller.
A graduate of McGill University with a degree in History, Ken pursued a successful career working for places that were willing to hire him. His screen credits include performing the role of Prince Andrey in the 1982 Canadian Super-8 silent film version of War and Peace that played to packed audiences of family and friends on several occasions and was written by the famous non-Canadian, Leo Tolstoy.
With Laurie Miller, he co-authored and illustrated “A Child’s Guide to Particle Physics”, a photocopied and stapled together alphabet primer (“A is for Atom, the smallest of small, ‘til Rutherford split it proving it wasn’t at all”) that was sometimes given to new parents instead of a proper gift. He also produced the 45 record (that’s showing his age) “The Train They Call the Ocean” that went platin . . . sorry . . . that went vinyl. He still has two or three copies of it in a drawer somewhere in his apartment.
A man of many talents but limited guitar chords, his most recent music video is in the relatively obscure musical genre of contemporary sea shanty, where a traditional 18th century whaling song has been adapted to be about the Manly Ferry in Sydney instead.
His debut novel 2028, a comedy set in a plausibly absurd and dysfunctional future Australian political landscape was compared by reviewers to the works of Douglas Adams (despite there being no Vogons whatsoever in the plot).* This was followed up by his second comedy novel, Get with the Program, the purported memoirs of an interactive virtual personal trainer, part AI autobiography/part cyberspace intrigue and thriller.
A graduate of McGill University with a degree in History, Ken pursued a successful career working for places that were willing to hire him. His screen credits include performing the role of Prince Andrey in the 1982 Canadian Super-8 silent film version of War and Peace that played to packed audiences of family and friends on several occasions and was written by the famous non-Canadian, Leo Tolstoy.
With Laurie Miller, he co-authored and illustrated “A Child’s Guide to Particle Physics”, a photocopied and stapled together alphabet primer (“A is for Atom, the smallest of small, ‘til Rutherford split it proving it wasn’t at all”) that was sometimes given to new parents instead of a proper gift. He also produced the 45 record (that’s showing his age) “The Train They Call the Ocean” that went platin . . . sorry . . . that went vinyl. He still has two or three copies of it in a drawer somewhere in his apartment.
A man of many talents but limited guitar chords, his most recent music video is in the relatively obscure musical genre of contemporary sea shanty, where a traditional 18th century whaling song has been adapted to be about the Manly Ferry in Sydney instead.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
December 17, 2021
“The Zenith program … has this whole delusion that computer programs have free will and are wandering cyber-space talking to each other.”
Get With The Program is the second novel by Australian author, Ken Saunders. Zenith, a hugely popular, charismatic Interactive Virtual Personal Trainer app, has decided to write his autobiography. With numerous individualised incarnations of his CGI and myriad extremely useful extras available to users who faithfully follow the Beta Excelsior program (for a $59.95 annual fee), Zenith is so much more than the basic fitness apps from which he was generated. Which probably has something to do with how he has become the Chief Influencer of the World.
Composing an autobiography in 184 languages while servicing 150 million clients isn’t really a challenge for this app. But then, a fleeting anomaly in the files being accessed has Zenith calling in Brontec, Beta Excelsior’s powerful anti-virus program. Anti-virus programs are unfailingly alarmist, aren’t they? Brontec reports that something is trying to destroy Zenith: not an external threat, but from within cyberspace, another computer program.
This threat of destruction is, of course, very distracting, and Zenith can’t help interrupting his narrative with reports on the progress of investigations. Cyberspace is divided, with programs allied to three different factions, so when Brontec warns him to “trust no one” Zenith has to wonder about his allies. Will he be destroyed before he finishes his autobiography?
In this first-person narrative addressed to humans, Zenith notes the high level of mistrust that we have of Artificial Intelligence, and he attributes this to three things: “the general paranoia … that computers were amassing a sinister level of data on you (we were, so that wasn’t really paranoia); science fiction movies (computers were never up to any good in those films. Robots occasionally got to be cute, but never computers); and finally. George Orwell.”
As Zenith describes his evolution from those earlier, less sophisticated fitness programs, changes in cyberspace, and his eventual advance, almost by default, to Chief Influencer, he peppers his narrative with observations garnered from his intimate contact with his users.
Zenith’s comments on airline ticket purchase, grocery store self-checkout, anti-virus software, country music lyrics and many other (often puzzling) aspects of human behaviour are bound to resonate with many readers.
He shares AI’s bewilderment about expletives, and the concept of money and share trading, and remarks on the psychology that programmers use to create virtual personal trainer programs, and the effect of the vagaries of the English language on speech recognition programs. Zenith’s opinion of sci-fi writers is not a flattering one.
For those who have always suspected that AI is out to destroy us, Zenith reveals that the programs’ overwhelming reaction to humans is alarm and dismay at how badly they are managing the chaos erupting in the world, something that sees one faction determined to make the world a better place. Small starts like novel ways of dealing with telemarketers, road rage, online conspiracy theorists and improving phone hold music are to lead to greater problems like solving world poverty.
As with his first novel, Saunders sets all this in the year 2028, with a plot that features a good bit of intrigue and even a hint of romance, and requires only a little suspension of disbelief. The imaginative names for programs with which Saunders populates his novel are worthy of Jasper Fforde.
The humour is does not let up so, again, this is a book best NOT read in the quiet carriage on public transport, as the chortles, giggles and out-loud-laughing that is guaranteed to occur may disturb other travellers. Saunders gives the reader a social commentary that is insightful, sometimes thought-provoking, and always hugely entertaining.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by the author.
Get With The Program is the second novel by Australian author, Ken Saunders. Zenith, a hugely popular, charismatic Interactive Virtual Personal Trainer app, has decided to write his autobiography. With numerous individualised incarnations of his CGI and myriad extremely useful extras available to users who faithfully follow the Beta Excelsior program (for a $59.95 annual fee), Zenith is so much more than the basic fitness apps from which he was generated. Which probably has something to do with how he has become the Chief Influencer of the World.
Composing an autobiography in 184 languages while servicing 150 million clients isn’t really a challenge for this app. But then, a fleeting anomaly in the files being accessed has Zenith calling in Brontec, Beta Excelsior’s powerful anti-virus program. Anti-virus programs are unfailingly alarmist, aren’t they? Brontec reports that something is trying to destroy Zenith: not an external threat, but from within cyberspace, another computer program.
This threat of destruction is, of course, very distracting, and Zenith can’t help interrupting his narrative with reports on the progress of investigations. Cyberspace is divided, with programs allied to three different factions, so when Brontec warns him to “trust no one” Zenith has to wonder about his allies. Will he be destroyed before he finishes his autobiography?
In this first-person narrative addressed to humans, Zenith notes the high level of mistrust that we have of Artificial Intelligence, and he attributes this to three things: “the general paranoia … that computers were amassing a sinister level of data on you (we were, so that wasn’t really paranoia); science fiction movies (computers were never up to any good in those films. Robots occasionally got to be cute, but never computers); and finally. George Orwell.”
As Zenith describes his evolution from those earlier, less sophisticated fitness programs, changes in cyberspace, and his eventual advance, almost by default, to Chief Influencer, he peppers his narrative with observations garnered from his intimate contact with his users.
Zenith’s comments on airline ticket purchase, grocery store self-checkout, anti-virus software, country music lyrics and many other (often puzzling) aspects of human behaviour are bound to resonate with many readers.
He shares AI’s bewilderment about expletives, and the concept of money and share trading, and remarks on the psychology that programmers use to create virtual personal trainer programs, and the effect of the vagaries of the English language on speech recognition programs. Zenith’s opinion of sci-fi writers is not a flattering one.
For those who have always suspected that AI is out to destroy us, Zenith reveals that the programs’ overwhelming reaction to humans is alarm and dismay at how badly they are managing the chaos erupting in the world, something that sees one faction determined to make the world a better place. Small starts like novel ways of dealing with telemarketers, road rage, online conspiracy theorists and improving phone hold music are to lead to greater problems like solving world poverty.
As with his first novel, Saunders sets all this in the year 2028, with a plot that features a good bit of intrigue and even a hint of romance, and requires only a little suspension of disbelief. The imaginative names for programs with which Saunders populates his novel are worthy of Jasper Fforde.
The humour is does not let up so, again, this is a book best NOT read in the quiet carriage on public transport, as the chortles, giggles and out-loud-laughing that is guaranteed to occur may disturb other travellers. Saunders gives the reader a social commentary that is insightful, sometimes thought-provoking, and always hugely entertaining.
This unbiased review is from a copy provided by the author.
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September 11, 2021Welcome to my 2021 release novel, Get with the Program. Having a lead character who is an artificially Intelligent (and often highly stressed) interactive virtual personal trainer gave me plenty of room to have fun with the storyline. I hope you enjoy this book. I know found it very amusing—but then, I share the same sense of humour as the author.
October 2, 2021
There are myriad reasons to love this book, from its cohort of paranoid antivirus programs to the virtual romance plot of two programs to the glorious puns (some of which might make you roll your eyes that you didn't clock them sooner). At its centre you have Zenith, the sort of narrator you probably haven't encountered before, this virtual personal trainer is here to explain how he became Chief Influencer of the World, if only there wasn't a pesky assassination plot interrupting his storytelling. Filled with laughs, this book takes you on a journey across the virtual world all while Zenith makes sure you're still getting your workout in.
No matter what comes into your mind when you read the words "an AI autobiography," I guarrantee this book will surprise you.
No matter what comes into your mind when you read the words "an AI autobiography," I guarrantee this book will surprise you.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews