Happy Wednesday Scribblers. I hope you are having a wonderful week. I’m back again with another book review (I’ve been working my way through my ‘to be read’ list… finally). Today I’m here with a Sci-Fi (AI) novel that I think you might enjoy:
Building Baby Brother by Steven Radecki
Children will always grow up, whether we're ready for them to or not.
One truth about parenthood that I've learned is that there will come a time when your children will ask you difficult, and perhaps even uncomfortable, questions for which they expect you to have the answers.
It's also true that we often find it difficult to deny our children the things that they most desire--like freedom.
AI Built with Heart
What if an AI was built with a heart? What if AI was built out of a father’s love for his son? Given the world we live in, these are questions we needed to ask before the launch of all our current AI technology. Given the nature of Building Baby Brother (find it here) and that the novel was written ten (10) years ago, this story is one that anyone who is working on AI now needs to read. The novel by Steven Radecki came at a time when AI was still Sci-Fi but it shows us how thoughtful creation would have changed everything and perhaps made AI what we all thought it was going to be.
Building Baby Brother is a story about a divorced father who wants to provide his son, Josh, a baby brother. Josh asks his father several times for a baby brother. And Dad does just that. This story is written in a way that is very claustrophobic (but in a good way). We focus on Dad, Josh, and Gavin (the AI baby brother). There are a few interactions with Dad’s ex-wife, Carolyn, but other than that the story is about the three ‘boys’, which I found interesting and a bold choice for the author.
Dad spends most of the story taking care of Josh and working on Gavin, asking himself all the questions any good engineer or scientist should. I loved when Gavin started asking questions of Dad and how the two had to face some difficult choices and have some difficult conversations together. Josh, isn’t left out of the story (as it’s about him). We see how the introduction of Gavin changes how Josh interacts with his parents and how Dad is left to ask himself many questions, that I believe, all parents ask themselves about their children and how they grow up and change. Becoming their own person.
There is a lot of heart in this story, and there is a lot that all readers can and should take away from what is written. What the story boils down to is family and growing up and how wonderful and sad it all is. If you are looking for a story with a lot of heart and that is character driven, Building Baby Brother is the book for you.
Those are my thoughts on Building Baby Brother by Steven Radecki. I hope you’ll pick up your copy and give this book a read. It’s worth it. Until next time have a great week.