Machine Thinking & Cliffhanger — cover art by Adrian
Unpublished Fiction · From the world of CERTAINTY

Machine Thinking & Cliffhanger.

A philosopher's lost speech and a writer's last stand. Two unpublished pieces from the world of Certainty, free for John's readers.

About These Pieces

A philosopher's argument and a writer's lived experience of the same future.

In Machine Thinking, an unpublished excerpt from Certainty, Jack Lewis describes the threat of cyber super intelligence. Cliffhanger is a short story that shows what an A.I. world feels like from the inside — for the people whose work has already been consumed.

Machine Thinking

The Berlin speech given by Jack Lewis — the 92-year-old philosopher in Certainty — to a small audience of Japanese visitors. Originally drafted as an appendix to the novel, this is the long-form argument about machine intelligence, human consciousness, and the choice ahead of us. Includes a prelude from Certainty describing how Wilson and Laura found their way to Lewis.

Cliffhanger

A short story about the last writer in the New York City Research Library — and the morning his contract isn't renewed. While Lewis describes the threat of machine intelligence from a philosopher's distance, Cliffhanger shows what that world feels like from the inside, for the people whose work has already been consumed.

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