Level Six

Sci-fi drama. Warring AIs and humans are in a struggle to save or destroy the world as far as humankind is concerned. A thought provoking fictional take on our AI future. Thank you to Interstellar Flight Press and NetGalley for the ARC. The views expressed are all mine, freely given.

I jumped at the chance to read and review "Level Six" by William Ledbetter since I totally loved the previous novel in the series. "Level Six" had all of the cool aspects that the first book in the series had, such as general purpose AI, nanobots, anti-gravity, space travel, and a pervasive cultural war between apparently well-meaning and powerful but not omnipotent AI's and those AI's that are more narrowly focused on their own survival rather than humanity's. Likewise, both novels include imperfect humans with good intent, and malevolent easy-to-hate human antagonists.

Perhaps unavoidably, "Level Six" felt a little less fresh than the previous novel, and I was also scrambling to remember who-was-who in the first couple of chapters. Fortunately, it was easy to get into the swing of the new plot and new characters, and get excited about the goals and future of the protagonist and her friends as well as exciting new applications resulting from AI controlled nanotech.

Perhaps one of the biggest contributions of this novel is the way it handled a post-Singularity Earth and provided an excellent environment to understand and explore such concepts as the soft and hard takeoff theories of the Singularity (e..g, how sudden is the development and improvement of AI) and positive vs. negative Singularity (basically, are the AI's friend or foe to humanity.)

As before, I really enjoyed this book. I recommend it to anyone that liked the first novel, or appreciates topics including AI, the Singularity, nanotech, or just interesting survival SF.

I thank the author, William Ledbetter, and the publisher, Interstellar Flight Press, for sharing a temporary electronic review copy of this excellent novel with me.

Nicely done. I liked this and the previous book in the series. It has an interesting premise and is laid out with good pacing. Recommended.

I really appreciate the free copy for review!!

This is a fine effort in imagining a mid-future scenario involving the supposed conflicts between powerful artificial intelligences and humans. Though my scale doesn't strictly allow it, I thing this deserves 4.5 stars.

The story is situated in a post-apocalyptic earth setting, where technology run amok was the underlying cause of the apocalypse. In this context, there are AIs operating at various numbered "levels" (though the Level numbers in the story differ a bit from more common nomenclature; here, "Level 5's" are what current 2023 AI culture might term Level 3 Artificial General Intelligences. Small quibble.)

Importantly, this technology age also has a broad range of very small (nano-scale) highly-controllable machines that can be manufactured quickly in great quantities. And, the Level 5 AGIs are able to manufacture these at will, and deploy them for use.

This, then provides the setting for a story that asks the question "Will they (AGIs) be nice to us (humans)?"

The bottom line in this review: The answer to that question in the book is nuanced, multi-faceted, and intelligently-wrought. I like it.

Other comments of things that showed up for me:
- A key character stated his philosophy on AI development. (It is) "... driven by two assumptions. First, that humanity was living on borrowed time, and that someday ... (something) would wipe them out. And second, that given enough time ... the emergence of a true super intelligence was inevitable. (and ...) with proper circumstances the resulting god-like beings might be benevolent toward humanity.... If the machines were able to develop a morality similar to humans ... then humanity's chances improved greatly." Interesting.
- So, if AGIs do come into being, how do we cope? "Apparently being totally free of level fives wasn't a realistic option, so maybe it would come down to picking sides. The age-old human dilemma of having to choose the lesser of two evils."
- Another tidbit talked about the concern that AGIs might manipulate humans: "Humans have always been easily manipulated, ... and nobody is better at it than other humans ... So our (AGI) partners would manipulate us even if they didn't intend to, simply by giving their opinions or reminding us of our obligations (as humans do)." Love this.
- There was an awesome description of the feeling one has when visiting an empty place where you once made memories. "Abby stood in the living room expecting a flood of memories, but nothing looked familiar. The house had been looted long ago, or emptied, depending on who you asked, leaving little of value." And, later, "The detritus of truncated lives, Souveniers and mementos that had lost all significance that day fifteen years ago." Lovely imagery.
- There was a nice Easter Egg in mentioning that a hiding place was "...tucked between the tattered pages of a paperback copy of Snow Crash." Homage to Neal Stephenson's foundational novel.
- And finally, "Why are we like this? ... Look at those (devices). They're amazing. People can build such wonders, yet still kill each other with no more remorse than we would pulling weeds from a garden. How can we be both? I don't understand. What is wrong with us?" Followed by "It's fear. Humans and AIs are all afraid. Of death. Oblivion. The other." Really insightful writing.

So, all-in-all good stuff.