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Artificial Truth
by
J.M.Lee
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| Title: | Artificial Truth |
| Author: | J.M.Lee |
| Genre: | Novel |
| Written: | 2024 (Eng. 2025) |
| Length: | 210 pages |
| Original in: | Korean |
| Availability: | Artificial Truth - US |
| Artificial Truth - UK | |
| Artificial Truth - Canada | |
| from: Bookshop.org (US) |
- Korean title: 안티 사피엔스
- Translated by Sean Lin Halbert
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Our Assessment:
B : reasonably good thrillerish AI novel
See our review for fuller assessment.
The complete review's Review:
Artificial Intelligence, and the possibility of artificial general intelligence, feature prominently in Artificial Truth.
It is presented in chapters alternatingly narrated by various protagonists, most prominently Kim Ki Chan, generally known as KC, "the inventor of Mintel, the world's first artificial general intelligence" and leading light of several other groundbreaking technology companies; his wife/widow Minju; and her second husband, Junmo.
The novel begins with the death of KC at age forty-five; he had terminal cancer but declined practically any treatment, devoting himself to his work in what little time he had left.
Working at a furious pace, his personality changed in those dying months, becoming much more short-tempered and aggressive -- and he was pushing some limits in what he was doing, technologically and legally, in developing: "Allen, a super-intelligent AI that would start a new chapter in evolutionary history"
The first chapter KC narrates has him acknowledge that he is dead -- at least: "in the traditional sense of the word".
But he still exists and functions -- "I can still talk, hear, and see", for example -- though, as he has to admit:
However, I'm not claiming that I'm alive. Just because something can talk like a human, think like a human, and remember like a human doesn't mean it's alive like a human.And certainly, as far as physical form goes, he isn't. But he's still very much there, in the electronic ether. And with access to the technology all around, from cell phones to the many cameras installed in their house and elsewhere, he can keep close tabs on Minju.
Junmo comes with something of a criminal past, having spent time in prison, but he rights his life and follows his dream of becoming a photographer. With Minju passionate about the arts, it's perhaps not so surprising that they eventually met and fell in love -- but Junmo gets quite a bit of help leading up to that. And he hides a secret of sorts, a Faustian pact he made when he was twenty-six, signing a very binding contract that allows him to pay off some of his gambling debts and launch his career as a photographer. But, of course, the deal comes back to haunt him, his side of the bargain something terrible he is expected to do (with the knowledge also that if he fails someone else will be hired to do it in his place; the outcome seems inescapable).
Artificial Truth takes its time in explaining the whole set-up, including having KC recount much of his life and work and the successive, ever-more advanced iterations of artificial intelligence he worked on and had success with. He does get quite far with his Allen -- "An AI that doesn't merely execute a task that we give it but makes its own judgments and interacts with the real world", as someone describes an early version -- but his experimentation also gets very personal. Minju is left mostly in the dark -- but then after KC's death she still senses something of a presence, and of course she isn't wrong. Dead KC continues to exist as something of a pure consciousness; the problem is: he doesn't exist all on his own, and much of his work now has a kind of mind of its own .....
The point the story builds up to isn't really a show-down, because Minu and Junmo are entirely overmatched, everyday life so completely tied together with electronics that its reach seems inescapable. Or is it ?
It's all a bit convoluted too. There are various motives and actions that come into play -- Minju, too, has a secret, about something she did -- and Junmo's Faustian bargain is rather far-fetched, but generally it all -- especially the accounts of KCs work and discoveries -- makes for some decent AI-scenarios and speculation. Not least: KC's hubris, when he pushes ahead despite some warnings, echoes all too well what we hear from far too many working on the frontiers of this field now:
Allen doesn't vaporize people or level cities. He's merely the expansion of human consciousness and intelligence. If we act now and commercialize it, we will be the dominant force in AI. We can worry about improving and fine-tuning it with updates later, when we have further investment.Artificial Truth doesn't bring much new to the AI-debate(s), and the story is a bit more over-complicated than need be, but the structure is interesting enough, and the storyline sufficiently gripping, to hold the reader's interest. The twists aren't particularly sharp, but Lee is quite good on the filler, and in presenting these different characters -- real and, to varying degrees, virtual -- and their different motivations (and capabilities) he puts together a decent enough novel.
- M.A.Orthofer, 11 October 2025
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Artificial Truth: Reviews: Other books of interest under review:
- See Index of Korean literature
- See Index of Science Fiction and Fantasy books
- Other books from AmazonCrossing
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South Korean author J.M.Lee (이정명; Lee Jung-Myung) was born in 1965.
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© 2025 the complete review
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