Synopsis
WARNING: THE FUTURE IS CLOSER THAN YOU THINK.
Only weeks ago, Elon Musk's Neuralink made headlines with the first successful chip implant into a living human brain. A paralyzed man can now communicate with his loved ones, and can even play chess, by controlling a computer with his thoughts alone.
Right behind Neuralink an entire industry is springing up, with more than half a dozen competitors racing to enter the field.
First efforts are aimed at repairing damaged brains. But the wider vision is to expand normal brain functions by merging the human mind with artificial intelligence.
As Musk says, "We're going to have the choice of either being left behind and being effectively useless or like a pet—you know, like a house cat or something—or eventually figuring out some way to be symbiotic and merge with AI."
He predicts that within five to ten years, human speech itself will be superfluous, and we will all be essentially telepathic.
Keep in mind that this is the man behind SpaceX, Starlink, Solar City, and, of course, Tesla. He's no idle dreamer.
The British Royal Society takes him at his word. "Not only thoughts, but sensory experiences, [will] be communicated from brain to brain. Someone on holiday could beam a 'neural postcard' of what they are seeing, hearing or tasting into the mind of a friend back home."
WHAT COULD POSSIBLY GO WRONG?
Dr. Britz-Cunningham's visionary novel, INTERFACE, zeroes in on that question.
It describes a world in which social media and communication technology have expanded to almost limitless power through the INTERFACE, a network of brain implants that link the entire human race. It offers a warning about how such advances can change human nature. It takes on such hot-button issues as technological addiction, the right to govern one's own body, government compulsion in the name of public good, and, not least of all, the tyranny of public opinion. For good measure, it plays out against the background of a panic-inducing viral outbreak.
But INTERFACE is more than a SOCIAL PROPHECY. It's a WHITE-KNUCKLE THRILLER, one of those books that shouldn't be read on the subway—not unless you don't mind missing a stop or two.
The action begins when Taiki Graf, the genius inventor of the INTERFACE, turns against his own creation, seeing it as a threat to mankind's future. He devises a horrifying plot to frighten the whole world into getting rid of their implants. He stands alone—one man against the government, the police, the media, and the vast economic power invested in the INTERFACE. He is ready to sacrifice his life to reset the course of human history.
His most formidable adversary is Yara Avril, a captain with the NYPD, who was once Taiki's lover, who loves him still, and is determined to save him—and the world—from his dark obsession before it's too late.
Will Yara succeed—or will Taiki? As the body count rises, one must ask, HOW MANY LIVES ARE WORTH SACRIFICING TO SAVE MANKIND'S SOUL?
Don't be blindsided! Start reading INTERFACE today and be one of the first in your crowd to get a glimpse of a future we'd better get ready for—before it lands on top of us.
And if you'd like to learn more, please join Dr. Britz-Cunningham on his free YouTube channel, "DOCTOR OF SUSPENSE", which features a three-part critique of social media, entitled Digital Leviathan, expanding on the ideas behind INTERFACE.
About the Author
Scott Britz-Cunningham, MD, PhD, is a board-certified nuclear medicine physician who holds academic appointments at the University of Massachusetts and Harvard Medical School. His scientific articles have been published in
The New England Journal of Medicine,
The Journal of Nuclear Medicine,
Cancer, and
The Journal of Virology. He is the author of two other novels:
Code White (Forge Books) and
The Immortalist (Simon & Schuster). In his spare time, he performs with the New England Digital Accordion Orchestra and practices Shotokan karate. He and his wife, Evelyn—an artist and art therapist—live in Worcester, Massachusetts. Their grown son, Alex, lives in Maine.
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