gregzimmerman 's review for:

Culpability by Bruce Holsinger

4.0

emotional informative medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Plot

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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A self-driving vehicle gets in an accident and kills a sweet elderly couple. Who is to blame? The teenager in the driver’s seat who didn’t have his eyes on the road, his sister who screamed from the back seat and startled him, his father who was sitting in the passenger seat working and not paying attention either…or the designer of the AI that may or may not have malfunctioned resulting in the accident? 

Holsinger explores the thorny ethical issues of AI using the accident as the taking-off point. That’s when this novel is at its best — when it’s considering these issues. There’s definitely a saggy middle to this book, though, as we spend a lot of time with this family on their week-long vacation to recuperate after the accident. 

I did enjoy this, though — it’s a quick read and asks some important questions we should all be thinking about as AI (for better or worse…mostly worse) becomes more and more an inescapable part of our lives.