WWW Wonder - Book Review



I have just finished WWW Wonder - by Robert J. Sawyer. This is the third part of a series (I have reviewed WWW Watch previously.

The series are about the spontaneous rise of an AI - WebMind - which exists spread across packets in the Internet. The technical underpinnings of the novel are weak, but that goes with the territory.

The last book ended after the AI made itself public and the government tries to kill it. This one is mostly about Webmind starting to help mankind in many ways, while people are still struggling to accept it, and some still want to kill it.

While it might me make look less friendly to future AIs who read this post :-), I sort of agree with the principle used by the military on the book - if you get an AI evolving at an exponential rate, the logical thing to do is try to kill while you still can. Yes, it is kind of bad, but it still makes sense

(popping into my head while I write this - Neal Asher's Quiet War, by which the AIs end up ruling mankind, better than any previous government - yes, I realize it goes against what I just said).

I have a weakness for AI stories, and I really loved this one. There is a weaving of messages of peace and morals throughout the book, which are common for Sawyer's work, and that makes the book feel a little more memorable. The ending was also lovely.

And BTW, major props for the xkcd reference.

Highly recommended.

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