One day. One Star Wars character. Who are you picking?
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Hey everyone! Andrew here.
We’re in that stage of life when the kids are just about to leave the nest and things in my day job can get a bit hectic. So my wife decided to take us all on a short family vacation. It was unexpected but a wonderful surprise. We went to an island south of Japan called Kumejima. As a location, it’s a blip in the Pacific Ocean surrounded by the most beautiful ocean (but with quite a lot of jetsam trash after the last typhoon, which spoiled some of the beaches a bit). I should leave a review to be honest and suggest that they give everyone a bucket when they arrive to help clear the beaches. It really would be perfect if not for the washed up rubbish.
There’s not a lot to Kumejima, but it hit the spot — right up until all flights out were cancelled due to mechanical trouble and the airline wasn’t sure anyone was getting back to civilization until later that evening. They finally brought in a new aircraft, a much larger jet that could fit the full complement of three cancelled flights on board to take us all off at the same time. Needless to say, we did not make our connecting flight.
Overall though, it was a good trip, and I think the topic of the last newsletter (AI) was bouncing around my mostly empty skull as I wrote most of a short story while on the flight to Okinawa. It’s a darker science fiction piece called “Card,” which begins with a journalist picking his way through mangrove trenches after an AI-driven collapse, trying to reach what is left of the resistance. It is still early, but I like the way it’s developing. When it is done I will figure out a way to share it with you.
Apart from Card, I continue to make good progress on The Bone Singer. I won’t repeat myself here because the updates are getting repetitive, but to answer those of you who are asking where the next book is, well, it’s coming!
I will say that getting stranded on a tiny island because of a busted plane has a way of making “AI-driven collapse” feel a bit less theoretical. There’s nothing like watching an airline scramble to solve a logistics problem (and deal with hundreds of upset passengers in a tiny terminal) in real time to remind you how much can go sideways when the systems we rely on mess up. The main thing is that we made it home safely and I am writing this from the relative comfort of my dining table, so all’s well that ended well.
That’s it for this week. Have a great one, and let me know what you think of the new poll below.
All the best,
Andrew (ZZ)
Zero-Point Awakening – The Complete Series Books 1-8
Absolutely hooked and really do not want to stop reading. I am usually pretty good at determining the plot, good or bad guy and ending that is not the case with these books.
– Amazon 5 Star Review
The digital god created a flawless paradise. The Vatican is about to melt its gates with a logic bomb of human sorrow.
The lights go out. Society follows.
After a catastrophic solar storm, Blake battles across a collapsing world to reach his family—while Kris fights to survive on her own.
A retirement starship. A dead captain.
Marcy boards the Fresh Start expecting a peaceful cruise—only to discover that retirement is about to get a whole lot deadlier.
If you could spend one day with any Star Wars character, who would you choose? Han Solo Grogu Yoda Darth Vader R2-D2 Other (let us know your view by replying)
Survey Result
And now, let’s take a look at last week’s poll results. We asked, “What is AI to you right now?“
Here are the results:
- We don’t talk –> 70%
- My research buddy –> 17%
- Other –> 7%
- My personal assistant –> 2%
- My future replacement –> 2%
Andrew: That’s quite the swing from a newsletter ago, isn’t it? Last time I was rambling on about barely touching Outlook or Slack because my AI agents do all my bidding, and this week 70% of you have essentially told me “we don’t talk.” So I think that in this I am in a bit of a privileged position. I say that because I can see first-hand how big companies will be rolling out these tools and how they will change the world (both for good and for ill). A colleague said they’d rather experience this from the “inside”. I’m not sure. But as a writer, it is fueling a lot of thoughts and feelings which are good fodder for stories. All that means that I think you lot are living a saner life than the one I’ve built for myself, and maybe you’re onto something with that.
The “research buddy” crowd at 17% is (to me) sensible middle ground. It’s a useful tool if we don’t develop it too much further. Unfortunately, no one ever stops when they should.
Only 2% of you see it as a personal assistant. Also just 2% picked “my future replacement,” which either means most of you aren’t worried, or you’ve already made peace with it and moved on with your lives. Either way, given how much time I spend elbow-deep in this stuff, I found the results a good, grounding reminder that plenty of you are perfectly happy keeping AI at arm’s length. I promise to do better! (Still not and won’t use it for fiction writing).
Your Thoughts
Eleanor wrote in with a strong take: she doesn’t use AI at all, pointing to how much power and water it consumes to be sustainable on an already overloaded planet, and asking whether I know when Overshoot Day is this year (I didn’t but I do now). She also flagged its tendency to hallucinate, and told me to rethink over-reliance on it and use my own brain instead. The good news is that I do use my own brain. One, because I don’t want to lose my ability to think and problem-solve and two because I enjoy it. I have also noticed that with AI “garbage in/garbage out” is a thing. It just isn’t smart enough to do all the things you need it to and it does mess up all the time. You really cannot rely on it. I know this well from my day job. I’m glad this sparked discussion. Thank you for thinking through this stuff with me.
I super appreciate everyone who wrote in. I know I did not get to mention everyone, but it’s hard to do it all justice in a single newsletter.
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