SOLVED. Book about artificial intelligence: 1980s, hardcover had a half-dustjacket [s]

[Thomas]

I read a book in the mid- to late-1980s that was about an AI that developed in a laboratory computer. The way I remember it was that the scientists put together a virtual neural network and then let it develop into intelligence, and then it just happened. The AI had a child-like personality, and I want to say it represented itself on the screen as a spherical blob (though that's not a firm memory).

The author wasn't anyone particularly well-known. I received the book through a book club, if that helps.

Any ideas?

[Andy]

Valentina by Marc Steigler perhaps Valentina: Soul in Sapphire

[Thomas]

Thanks, but that's not it.

The one I'm thinking of had a more literary look to it. The book was hardcover, and had a slick cover to the hardback itself, laid over with a half dustjacket. There was artwork on the book and the jacket.

[Andy]

I've looked at a couple of other options online ("Adolescence of P-1" and "The Turing Option") but the covers don't match the description you give. Was the book club the Science Fiction Bookclub (SFBC)?

[Conal]

Maybe When Harlie Was One?

[Thomas]

No, it's none of those, either. Story-wise, they're close, but none of the editions look like the one I had.

I didn't get the book through the SFBC; I think it came from a more mainstream book club. Part of me wants to say it came from the QPBC, but that doesn't make any sense because it was definitely a hard cover book.

The book wasn't a traditional science fiction novel, either. It was more literary.

[Kris]

Thomas, what's the conflict or big event in the story? You can share spoilers in this group. For example:

Type <*spoiler> then your spoiler <*/spoiler> but take out the * (asterisks)
(view spoiler)[This is what happens, and you can tell the world--Colonel Mustard did it in the library with a gun. (hide spoiler)]

[Thomas]

Unfortunately, I read this book close to 30 years ago, so what you see is all I remember of it. I have a vague recollection of the AI being moved and/or showing up on someone's home computer, in an apartment or something, but it's not very clear in my mind.

[Thomas]

Fifteen months later, I stumble across the book I was trying to find in a used bookstore:

The Deus Machine: A Novel

[Lobstergirl, au gratin]

Great. Thanks for letting us know.