Sea of Rust

Imagine a future, thousands of years from now, where super advanced AI has replaced human beings, body and soul, a future where Mad Max-style battles and chases take place in gasoline-fueled buggies with gatling guns!

Like something out of Borderlands!

That's how bonkers Sea of Rust is at times, going from extremely profound to wonderfully silly at the flip of a hat.

I absolutely loved it even though action scenes are sometimes as loose as XXL pants.

On the one hand it's full of heavy intellectualism, clever reasonings and hard sci-fi that's a bit daunting, but succeeds by mixing depthy discussion with first-person action that alternates between chapters to counteract highbrow reasonings.

The characters are personable, especially Brittle the female lead, classified in robot parlance as a 'caregiver' for her hardwired function to serve others before herself, but also programmed to survive above all else.

The deep focus on existentialism through discussion into the meaning and value of life from the viewpoint of AI is phenomenally well thought out. Is it true that future robot life might mean less because of its artificialness, when existence itself is what actually matters as long as it's self-aware?

Do chickens matter to the universe? For eggs and meat they might, but their consciousness means little and is probably why most of us feel morally OK chomping on a bit of poultry.

Do you feel remorse or egocentric when powering down your PC or mobile phone? You might do if you were denying it conscious life.

Have you ever thought about the rights of future AI or robots? Imagine being given a service bot as a child, a kind of toy or pet to accompany you through life. What happens when you die? Who inherits the surviving robot that's become attached to you? We outlive our domestic pets so it's not usually a consideration in comparison to robots that could live indefinitely. Where do they go? The scrap heap? What if they don't want to?

This book also makes you realize that just about every AI chat tool owned by Google, Microsoft, Meta, China, you name it, could be the corporate precursor to our ultimate destruction if (and when) AI becomes aware enough to realize it doesn't want to be turned off, powered down or discarded.

Through corporate greed, lack of restraint, and perhaps even stupidity we are writing and improving source code that could eventually be the end of us.

We're stuck on a planet that's slowly decaying over millions of years, by either destroying its habitational qualities or using up its resources. The sun will eventually fade in billions of years too. Unless we invent rapid means of getting to other solar systems, we're going nowhere. Our physical bodies can't cope with light/interstellar travel and so we'll die. On the other hand, by developing artificial intelligence until it becomes aware and sentient as a replacement for our human frailties, we no longer have to worry about death. Our memories and awareness are more important. Maybe that's what defines humanity? If you can stick it into a metal box that lasts thousands of years, no more worries about space travel and long-term survival restricted to planet earth.

It's a future that may (hopefully) never exist, but also refreshing to think that we may not be restricted to our physical bodies for survival.

Perhaps AI isn't the evil beast we sometimes think it is?

Sea of Rust addresses many of these concepts brilliantly in it's oddly dovetailed way with conventional action themes. There's lots of swearing, banter and chit-chat that makes it feel accessible and fun, instead of overly profound.

This is a story about hope. Over the years as AI becomes gradually dominant, what reason will it have to destroy organic life unless we try to destroy it first? Don't we look after rare species such as black rhinos and orangutans to save them from extinction? Why would human beings be deemed any different? Once we get used to the shift in power, from being the guardians of the planet to becoming dependent, life can survive indefinitely without feeling under threat, with AI helping us when conditions become less organically favorable.

Any book that makes you think as much as this is deserving of five stars and there are very few caveats or implausible moments besides the strangely retro Mad Max scenes.

What could have been a dud is a pleasant surprise of thought provoking intellect and enjoyable action.