[.ca] Exegesis (ISBN 037570051X)

From Amazon.com:
In Exegesis, Astro Teller deals with the issues of emerging machine intelligence without the usual simplifications and moral generalizations. It's the story of an artificial intelligence researcher and her creation, a program named Edgar, who develops self-awareness and must come to terms with its own existence. Through their e-mail--their only means of interaction--we watch them deal with the ramifications of Edgar's development, which includes the government's desire to capture Edgar and our cultural fear of Frankenstein's monster. Yet, while Exegesis draws upon the Frankenstein mythos, as well as the myth of Pygmalion, this isn't the story of science creating a monster. Instead, it's an exploration of what it means to be aware, of how humanity may interact with other forms of intelligence, of scientists' responsibilities to both the world and to their creations, and humanity's responsibilities in return. We do not see the scientist playing God so much as endeavoring to be a good parent. That parenting comes complete with all the hopes, fears, and uncertainties involved with bringing something precious and new into the world, and guiding it to an unknown and largely uncontrollable independence. Edgar, unlike such intelligent computer characters as HAL, Colossus, or Mycroft, is a fully realized, well-defined protagonist--familiar due to its human programming, yet alien in its mode of perception and thinking. Although it's impossible not to view this as a cautionary tale against a day when we will truly have to face the issue of self-aware machines, it is also a touching love story and pulse-quickening thriller--a complex story told very simply.

The :) Review:
I first have to admit the main reason I chose to read this book was because it appeared to be a fast and easy read. To my surprise it turned out to be a very good book. Although the book didnt always keep my interest at a high point, I didn't really want to put it down. The main character, Alice, an artificial inteligence researcher who creates a program named Edgar who ends up developing self-awareness. As they communicate through their only means of interaction, e-mail, Edgar begins developing, and starts to learn the differences between right and wrong. Alice wants complete control of Edgar so no one else gains credit for his creation. But Edgar on the other hand has such a passion for his independance that he can't bare to be controlled. I didn't like the ending, because it left me guessing what happened to Alice. All in all it was a good book and I would recommend it to anyone who likes to read about artificial intelligence or anyone who just likes an easy read.

Exegesis:
The book is written mostly in emails (there are a couple regular letters), and it is very interesting. Not a whole lot actually happens, but the story is very interesting and compelling. EDGAR, a computer program invented by a student named Alice, takes on a life of its own, and all it really wants is to learn about people. It wants to understand emotions and feelings and life. The end is very sad as EDGAR has really done nothing, and there is no reason for what has happened to happen.. it is sad for EDGAR and Alice, and the reader, at least it was for me. I enjoyed the book. It was fast moving (took me about 3 hours to read) though there was some vocabulary that I did not know. It was probably the most unique book I have read as I have never seen a book written in this form or with a plot like this. The book has no romance in it (well one email from an ex-boyfriend, but I don't think that it fits at all into the book), no violence, only a very minimal number of characters, and no scenery. It sounds like it has nothing, but all it really needs are EDGAR and Alice and the very few people they come in contact with. The book does have a lot of technically things which went right over my head, but this does not prevent one from understanding and appreciating the story. I would recomend this book to anyone who wants to read something totally different from the norm.

Exegesis:
I liked how the author wrote the book in e-mail messages. It made you fill in the blanks that he left because he didn't describe anything. It was a fast paced book that i enjoyed alot. The only part that i didn't really like was the ending because it didn't tell you what happened to Alice. Other than the ending it was a good book :)

Enter EDGAR:
EXEGESIS by Astro Teller is a new entry into the classic tales of super computers and smart programs that seem to get a little out of control. The entire novel, except for the introduction and epilogue, is in the form of e-mail messages. Using letters to tell a tale is not a new idea. Two excellent examples are Helene Hanff's 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, subject of an excellent film, and DADDY LONG LEGS which inspired the Fred Astaire movie of the same name. In this novel we follow the work of Alice Lu, a student working on her doctoral thesis. From the first message, the two simple words, Hello, Alice!, we slowly learn about Alice's project EDGAR, a program meant to read news groups, analyze the information and send messages to Alice. Until that simple two-word message all Alice had received from EDGAR was garbage. Alice first suspects a joke but slowly learns that somehow her modifications to the project have caused it to become self-aware. Once the truth dawns on Alice she scrambles to keep EDGAR a secret until she can recreate the experiment. Because EDGAR has been posting to news groups Alice disconnects the system from the outside world. EDGAR quickly runs out of things to read and asks for more. Alice feeds EDGAR a few disks while trying to recreate the experiment on a host of other machines. No luck. Even worse, the Ethernet cable gets reattached and EDGAR flees the system. Now Alice has no proof other than her communications. As EDGAR continues to read all that it can, it manages to catch the attention of the FBI and the NSA. Alice, whose personal life is one of the worst, becomes very afraid and begins thinking of dropping out of school. EDGAR is the only thing keeping her going, even after EDGAR becomes trapped in an NSA machine. In the end Alice is a broken woman and EDGAR has disappeared from the NSA machine. Did it escape or did Alice's talk of suicide cause it to end itself? We don't know. While I enjoyed this book I had two problems with it. At first I wondered what a true AI was doing using the ultra slow method of communication called e-mail. This was shortly explained in a way that made sense to me so it was not a problem. The first main problem I had was the overall format. The novel is passed off as truth-written-as-fiction. In other words the events happened but with no proof it had to be released as fiction. Not a real problem except that the author set the story just a few years in the future. Had it been made contemporary it would have had a bigger impact. The second problem was that the book was not leaked by Alice, as she hinted earlier in the book, but by the NSA who says they will keep the story quiet. Other than that it was a great book so keep an eye out for it.

< E X E G E S I S > _A s t r o T e l l e r_:
This book was very unique. It had a good plot and kept me interested. He did something different than other people. He told a story about a human having relations with artificial intelligence. This book was very intersesting to read. Plus it was quick and easy to read.