AWE: A Technothriller by Pierre R. Schwob
‘In liberty and justice for all,’ has been perverted to imply, ‘for ME!’ We must discover methods to steer this nation away from such self-absorption and again to actually imply, ‘For All!’”
These are the phrases of one of many key characters within the, nicely, awe-inspiring e book, AWE, a brand new technothriller by Pierre R. Schwob that presents us with an intriguing storyline and on the similar time tackles some heady topics.
AWE, which stands for the Synthetic Knowledge Engine, is developed by the e book’s heroes to avert a catastrophic tipping level predicted by a local weather mannequin. AWE should additionally fight pernicious disinformation, significantly the virulent faux information generated by an industrialist — a psychopathic and murderous antagonist linked to Putin, who is decided to guard his and his shoppers’ pursuits.
BookTrib had the possibility to probe additional into the creator’s intricate story and its themes on this current interview.
Q: When did you provide you with the concept behind AWE?
A: Though my reply will offend some, I have to say that the unique thought for this storyline was developed after we noticed the deplorable response to COVID-19 from a earlier administration, its reckless lack of curiosity in local weather change and the self-sabotaging Division of Justice’s China Initiative, fortunately ended, however now once more rearing its ugly head.
Q: AWE, the Synthetic Knowledge Engine, performs a central function in combating disinformation and averting a local weather disaster. How did you conceptualize the concept of an AI being the linchpin for world salvation, and what impressed the particular challenges AWE faces?
A: Once I began to jot down this novel, ChatGPT and different AI engines weren’t but obtainable to the general public. However AI was getting used fairly efficiently in lots of areas, giving an inkling of its energy but additionally of its risks. I used to be nervous that some engines had been being skilled on materials from doubtful sources, significantly social media repositories. Lack of integrity and disinformation are regarding tendencies.
I imagined what may come “After AI,” and the concept of constructing a system that will method knowledge was not a big step. The unique title of the novel was “AW,” for “Synthetic Knowledge.” Nonetheless, a fan of “backronyms,” I discovered “AWE” (for “Synthetic Knowledge Engine”) to be extra significant. As soon as constructed, I imagined it could be used to detect and defeat faux information, and to behave as a digital helper within the immense effort wanted to cope with the risks of local weather change.
Q: The antagonist in AWE is a psychopathic industrialist linked to Putin. What was your method in crafting this character, and the way do you see the real-world parallels influencing the narrative?
A: I’m afraid that we wouldn’t have to look too far to see influential leaders who’re “out of their thoughts!” as Kamala Harris places it. I took a bit poetic license (if that’s the phrase) to make my antagonist actually sinister. I borrowed his identify, Olrik, to pay homage to a comic book e book sequence I learn in my early teen years in Europe (examine, for instance, “La Marque Jaune” [“The Yellow ‘M,’” in English]. When creating this character, I had enjoyable going again in historical past to see if I may make him a pal of Putin. This gave me an excuse to put Olrik as an evil disinformation genius, finally on the head of a fossil gas conglomerate with ties to his grasp and his oligarchs.
Q: Worldwide cooperation is a major theme in AWE. How do you view the function of world collaboration in addressing local weather change and disinformation?
A: Worldwide cooperation is essential to fixing the local weather disaster, selling the alternate of sound concepts, and creating the belief that can scale back the circulation of disinformation. With out worldwide collaboration humanity is doomed! I devoted the e book to the “L” variable within the Drake Equation, which is the size of time a civilization sticks round sending electromagnetic alerts throughout the Milky Means galaxy. We must always maximize “L” and never reduce it.
Q: Pic de Lucrète and Lily Lee are fascinating characters main the cost in opposition to the upcoming disaster. Are you able to inform us extra about who they’re and what drives them?
A: Pic de Lucrète. Sure. I’ve to admit that the identify “Pic,” refers to “Pic de la Mirandole” (the French identify of an Italian Renaissance man reputed to know every thing…). It was a moniker that one among my academics gave me in highschool. I assume he meant it as a praise. I solely want I may have adopted the identical arc as Pic in my very own life. We’ve comparable hobbies. Like him, I’m occupied with many issues, besides punk rock and plumbing and even the latter is intriguing. So, when creating his character, I merely wrote a couple of life I’d have discovered fulfilling. I needed to make him “a little bit of a pedant” to convey him down a notch. I’ve different, a lot bigger flaws.
Lily Lee. Ah. First, a superb mathematician. Balanced and drop-dead beautiful. What’s to not like? You might know that I lived 11 years in Hong Kong and visited Beijing numerous occasions. The China angle was there from the beginning.
These two characters had been in my head earlier than I started writing. I noticed Pic as the driving force of the good imaginative and prescient — with Lily complementing his mental horsepower whereas presenting a deceptive sense of vulnerability. I additionally wished to have a sensible statesman, former SecDef Baudouin van Eyck, the pinnacle of the assume tank to supply steering and open in any other case inaccessible doorways. Attending to know Invoice Perry, an actual sage at Stanford, was a powerful inspiration.
Q: Your novel strikes throughout numerous settings, from Silicon Valley to Moscow, Tokyo and Beijing. How did these areas affect the story?
A: I’ve traveled fairly a bit, for work and for pleasure, significantly given my curiosity in visiting labs and observatories worldwide, and even spent a while on the South Pole. I’ve gone to Japan 42 occasions (commuting from Hong Kong). It was pure to herald a few of these areas and use their settings and mores to create a dwelling surroundings for the story and to outline among the actors. Anchoring the protagonists’ arcs of their historic nationwide context additionally supported and enriched the narrative.
As I stated earlier than, I’m an ardent believer in worldwide collaboration. Having China as one of many preliminary companions in becoming a member of the trouble to fight local weather change made eminent sense to me and hopefully to the readers.
Q: AWE addresses the intersection of know-how, ethics, and world survival. What do you hope readers will take away from the story in regards to the potential of AI, the significance of fact and the need of worldwide cooperation?
A: I hope AWE will emphasize that we ignore local weather change at our civilization’s peril. However to unravel such world points requires wholesome mindsets: to help and respect rigorous, good science; to be discerning, to sieve and get rid of faux information; to convey knowledge and ethics to the deployment of recent applied sciences.
I’d share my conviction that we should defend freedom and democracy, reject totalitarianism and fascism at house in addition to overseas. That stated, we should promote the free alternate of concepts throughout borders with out calling on nationwide safety (though completely crucial) as a pretext to wantonly block worldwide collaboration. As I stated earlier than, our “L” will depend on this.
To shut, I’ll quote Pic: “We laud this nation’s exceptionalism. It was our individualism and love of freedom, entrepreneurship and can-do spirit that created the best wealth within the historical past of the world. However I’m afraid that these qualities have surrendered to informal self-indulgence. Throughout the Covid pandemic, this love of freedom was invoked by many to justify their refusal to social-distance, mask-up, or get vaccinated to guard themselves and others. The phrases of the Pledge of Allegiance, ‘In liberty and justice for all,’ have been perverted to imply, ‘for ME!’ We must discover methods to steer this nation away from such self-absorption and again to actually imply, ‘For All!’”
Q: Have you ever began in your subsequent novel?
A: Sure. I’m resisting a relaxation.
Pierre R. Schwob is a pc scientist who based Classical Archives. He owns a number of patents — some integrated right into a U.S. radio nationwide customary.
Printed works embody:
- AWE, Palo Alto, Sciences Org Books, 2024; a local weather change technothriller.
- The Nice Paperwork of the World: Milestones of Human Thought, (ed). U.S., U.Ok., Spain, Japan: McGraw-Hill, 1977; Austria, Germany: Kruger Verlag, 1977.
- Easy methods to Use Pocket Calculators. New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1976. Particular number of the Macmillan E-book Membership. Introductory provide of the Library of Mathematical Sciences.
- The Chess Tutor: Opening Strikes, co-authored with George F. Kane. New York: Mason/Constitution, 1976.
He wrote the libretto of the narrated symphony “Cosmic Reflection,” providing the historical past of the universe in 40 minutes, composed by Nolan Gasser. It premiered on the Kennedy Heart for the Performing Arts in Washington DC in 2009.
Asteroid “(32890) Schwob” is called after him. He’s engaged with the most recent developments in astrophysics and cosmology, significantly at Stanford/SLAC.
He repeatedly visits labs worldwide (together with on the precise South Pole) to comply with the most recent physics experiments. He’s a long-time director of the SETI Institute. He lives in Palo Alto, California.
Publish Date: February 27, 2024
Style: Thrillers
Writer: Pierre R. Schwob
Web page Depend: 379 pages
ISBN: 9798876003485
