by Cathryn_Conroy: As much as this is a gripping page-turner, it is also an incredibly thoughtful, profound, and philosophical novel about the power, future, impact, and horror of the emergent field of artificial intelligence as it takes over so many aspects of our lives—like it or not.
Written by Bruce Holsinger, this family drama is peppered with suspense, secrets, and a smart storyline that will keep you glued to the novel.
A wealthy and privileged family of five is traveling from their home in tony Bethesda, Maryland in an AI-controlled minivan to son Charlie’s lacrosse tournament on the Eastern Shore of Delaware. In a few months, handsome and athletic 17-year-old Charlie is headed to the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill on a lacrosse scholarship. Charlie is driving…well, the AI system is actually driving, but Charlie is in the driver’s seat. Riding shotgun is Charlie’s dad, Noah Cassidy, an attorney for one of the top law firms in the country. But unlike many of his colleagues, Noah grew up with little money and attended less-than-prestigious schools. Riding in the backseat is the children’s mother, Lorelei Shaw, a brilliant, double Ph.D. who is a world-renowned expert on artificial intelligence ethics and its future. Next to her is Alice, the middle child at age 13, and behind her in the very back is the youngest, Izzy, age 10.
As they are tooling along on a Delaware highway, it is Alice—not Charlie, whose head is down looking at his phone—who sees what is about to happen. A Honda Accord traveling in the opposite lane is crossing over and is about to hit them head-on. Alice screams. Charlie reacts to his sister’s scream, but not quickly enough. Because Charlie jerked the wheel in a futile attempt to avoid the crash, the AI autonomous-mode controls switched off and did not take evasive action. The two cars collide, and the elderly passengers in the other car are killed, burned to death. Only Charlie and Noah escape without injuries. The Delaware State Police investigation begins. (This is not a spoiler. All of this happens in the opening pages and sets the premise for the rest of the book.)
So who is to blame for the fatal collision? Who has culpability? Is Charlie at fault for vehicular homicide? Could he land in prison for the next 20 years? Or is Noah to blame, as the responsible adult in the front seat? And the biggest question of all: What is the difference between legal guilt and moral responsibility?
In an attempt to recover emotionally and physically from the crash’s horrors, the family retreats for one week to an isolated summer cottage on the Chesapeake Bay located on Virginia’s Northern Neck. Nearby is a mammoth estate, a ridiculously ostentatious mansion owned by an AI billionaire named Daniel Monet. As the two families interact, beginning with Charlie falling head over heels for Daniel’s 18-year-old daughter, Eurydice, secrets start to unravel—secrets big and small and some so big, so dark, and so insidious that they could tear apart the family.
This is a super-timely novel that has a fast-paced, compelling plot and a provocative, thoughtful message. In addition to being the perfect summertime read, it’s ideal for book clubs because there is so much to discuss.
And for what it’s worth: When I was not reading, I often thought to myself, “Oooh! I want to go read that book ‘Calamity.”” Except that is not the title. The title is “Culpability,” but it might could also have been subtitled “Calamity.” Because for this family, what happens is truly a calamity…a catastrophe or disaster.
