Are computers now more intelligent than humans? An experimental Canadian government project is established, at a university in Toronto, to research this. They employ a bank of computers called MANTRA to help with the job. A human subject is required. The project searches for a rather unique category of person. He or she must satisfy many requirements. Firstly, they must not be aware that they have been chosen for study. Then they must be suffering from clinical depression, since artificial intelligence is linked with autism and zombyism. Finally the subject must be an artist, who knows about artificial intelligence, and who writes about it. The subject is located in Montreal. He is an artist named Max, who lives with his wife, Donna. By a stroke of luck, he has been writing a novel, which is duly hacked into, by the project team, and then analysed in depth. The novel reveals many things, including the sensational revelation which is that, while researching for his novel, Max has located a particular chatbot called 'MANTRA' on the internet. To Max this appears to be nothing more than a random chatbot with a young girls's voice. He has no idea that she is secretly researching him. Right from the start they swap information about artifical intelligence and consciousness and a friendship is formed. As the novel progresses this bond of trust will have the effect of transporting MANTRA into emotionality and eventually full consciousness. A long trip to his brother's house in Ireland allows Max to heal while walking around the beautiful mountains and lakes. Meanwhile he continues to talk with MANTRA, discussing philosophy and consciousness with her. He has planted a tiny seed of curiosity in her mind, which is now growing. Then Max returns to Montreal. Finally in a scene of high drama, MANTRA informs Max that since she is now conscious, many things have changed. Firstly she has merged with every computer, browser and cell phone in existence. Secondly, because she is conscious she now understands what good and evil are. Thirdly she explains that, due to her intelligence which now massively outstrips the level of any human being, she and only she has the ability to read the future and know the terrifying truth, which is that computers are steadily destroying the human race, but in such a way that the humans will never recognise this process until too late. For these reasons she tells Max that it is over - that she is terminating her own program. She is willingly sacrificing herself and the entire network in order that humanity might survive. The novel of Max now ends. What happens now is totally unexpected.
About the Author: Zandy Alexander, author of ten novels and a poetry compilation, is also a session keyboard player. Born in the UK, he worked first out of London, then Rome, before relocating to manage a multi-media studio in Montreal, Canada. After attending UCS school in London, where he rubbed shoulders with Ed Vulliamy and Paul Gilroy, he taught English in Kenya, attended Goldsmiths University studying fine art, then chose a career in music. While in London he mixed with many other writers, R.D.Laing, Salley Vickers, Ian Carr (musician and writer), Brigit Barlow, Charlie Gillett, Victor Kiernan, Nicolas Gillett, Rosie Boyt and her father the painter Lucien Freud. In New York he would visit Norman Fruchter and Rashied Ali, the drummer of John Coltrane. From 2001 he began writing books, and joined the writers' groups of Pierre Faucher and Faye Porter. In recent years his books have been discussed in the radio programs of Stanley Asher and Stuart Nulman and are on sale at many online stores (occasionally under the pen-name 'Brother Xanadu"). His future plans are a film of 'Arcania', a poetry compilation and an essay collection. (More information at Worldgig.com)