Bestselling author Michael Connelly’s latest Lincoln Lawyer novel explores the dangers of AI and its potential to infringe on human rights and creative disciplines. The author warns that AI is “soulless” and that the technology puts “Every kind of creative discipline is in danger.”
The Guardian reports that Michael Connelly, the prolific author behind the bestselling Lincoln Lawyer series among many other popular characters, is tackling the rapidly evolving world of AI in his newly released novel, The Proving Ground. The eighth installment in the series centers around a lawsuit against an AI company whose chatbot encouraged a 16-year-old boy to kill his ex-girlfriend for being unfaithful.
As Connelly was writing the novel, he witnessed the technology altering the world at an unprecedented pace, causing him to fear that his plot might become outdated by the time the book was published. “AI is moving so fast that I even thought my book might be archaic by the time it got published,” Connelly said.
The Lincoln Lawyer novels, which have been adapted into a 2011 film starring Matthew McConaughey and a Netflix series, are known for drawing inspiration from real-world events. Connelly cited cases in Orlando and England where individuals were encouraged by chatbots to commit harmful acts, leading him to explore the themes of free speech and whether AI should be granted the same rights as humans.
Connelly, who has sold more than 89 million copies of his books, is also part of a collective of authors, including Jonathan Franzen, Jodi Picoult, and John Grisham, suing OpenAI for copyright infringement. The lawsuit aims to establish proper rules for the use of authors’ works in the training of AI chatbots, as Connelly believes that without such protections, publishers could go out of business and authors’ creative work could be compromised.
The rise of AI has raised concerns across various creative disciplines, with Connelly citing the example of chess champion Garry Kasparov’s loss to IBM’s Deep Blue in 1997 as a benchmark moment. He also mentioned the controversy surrounding the unveiling of an “AI actor” named Tilly Norwood last month, which has been condemned by unions and actors alike.
Connelly emphasized the potential dangers of AI, stating, “Every kind of creative discipline is in danger. Even actors. There’s now these amazing deepfakes. I live out here in LA, and that’s a big concern in the entertainment industry.” He added, “I always come back to the word soulless. You know it when you see it, there’s something missing.”
Read more at the Guardian here.
Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering issues of free speech and online censorship.
