The Gestalt in the Machine

SAN FRANCISCO, the near future — When clickbait journalist Adam Arrowman witnesses a murder, he’s forced to become a real investigative reporter. He might just have an exclusive on the apocalypse.His detective work takes him into the world of Kelvin Clipper, an imperious CEO who promises that ever-accelerating artificial intelligence will let him outrun death. Thousands of protesters disagree. Their warning: Infinite growth is an illusion and Big Tech is actually racing toward the extinction of humanity.Caught in the middle, a band of hackers searches desperately for a way to align algorithms with human needs. More violence hints at a connection to a president threatening World War III, lobbyists trying to free corporations from their stockholders, and an app that claims to resurrect the dead.Can Adam find the killer before the killer finds him? What secrets did the victim die to protect? And will Clipper’s Singularity deliver immortality in our time, or damnation for us all?