Mirrors We Need

Okay, so... I have an author's confession to make...

While writing 'Mirrors We Don't Have', I got completely stuck trying to visualize this one location... I knew what I wanted to describe, I knew the atmosphere I was aiming for, the emotions it should evoke... but damn, I just couldn't wrap my head around describing an approach to that rocky outcrop where the figure stands...

So, what's a writer to do? I hopped onto Dall-E and asked it to generate something... after about four attempts, I got this image here... this graphic was exactly what I was trying to achieve, something that was lurking in the corners of my imagination, refusing to be easily coaxed out with words.

It was only after seeing this image that I managed to get the writing for this scene flowing...

You're running... feeling the panting breath of technological changes catching up on your neck.

It was June 2023 when I began writing. Six months earlier, at the Infoshare AI conference, I had spoken about how the next AI winter probably wasn't coming, but that we were entering a time of stabilization—a period for realistically assessing the technology's capabilities beyond the hype. Two weeks later, a black swan flapped its wings across the world: ChatGPT.

I write. My novel is set in the near future. The technological threads and characters' fates intertwine in my imagination... while in the real world, in the present, the lightning-fast progress of technology makes me wonder if I'll manage to publish the book before it becomes outdated. I invent new concepts, only to later read that similar technological ideas are already being tested (at least I can tell myself that I came up with them independently, rather than borrowing them). The writing is going well, but I constantly feel it's too slow. So much is happening in AI that I start experiencing FOMO. I watch Wes Roth and Dave Shapiro to stay current, and that has to be enough.

In the second half of 2023, some experts say, "it's just statistics." Other experts speak of "sparks of AGI." Still others talk about evidence of representations... Fortunately, I'm not writing about LLMs... no, that wouldn't make sense—this technology will probably hit a ceiling soon... or will it? I write, now gripped only by mild FOMO, watching for the next black swans.

July 8, 2024 arrives, when I place the final period. The race is over. No, it's not over. There's still beta reading, editing, layout... I work, still watching for black swans. It will probably be okay. Voices around the world speak of a plateau in AI...

Now it really is the end. The book is in readers' hands. Whether it will disappoint, intrigue, or perhaps put them to sleep... that's beyond my control now. And black swans can fly wherever they want.

Fortunately, this isn't a book about AI ;) Although actually, it is.

Hey! Yes, you :) This book is your next must-read! "Mirrors we don't have" is a profound exploration of loneliness, connection, and what it means to be human when AI is everywhere. Does technology connect us or isolates? What kind of mirrors do we need?