Uncoded

While surrounded by the complexity of the marine environment off Half Moon Bay, Matthias Renn has a realization: consciousness, self-awareness, and true intelligence do not arise from processing power alone, but manifest from the complex interactions of the entire system.

Realizing that if the sole focus is processing power, computers will never achieve actual, general intelligence leads Renn to begin experimentation with neural networks—bizarre amalgamations of silicon and biological components. The Neuropacks he develops are problematic, but almost immediately exhibit signs of conscious, self-reflective behaviors.

When Renn’s boss, Lucius Harlow, applies swarming and flocking rules taken from the animal kingdom to the technology and puts the new Neuropacks in command of a simulated fleet of self-driving vehicles, the results are astounding: self-driving cars can now, finally… drive.

Driven by greed, Harlow moves too quickly and begins experimenting with a small test fleet of six SDVs on the roads of San Mateo. Almost immediately, the interlinked vehicles begin exhibiting uncoded, problematic, and dangerous behaviors. The development team hastily suppresses the undesirable traits, greases the appropriate political wheels, and rushes to market. The nationwide rollout is a roaring success, occurring much more rapidly than anyone anticipated.

But even deep within computer architecture, nature tends toward complexity and, despite the developers’ best efforts, the Neuropacks find a way to interlink.

At first, the emergent behaviors of the new SDVs are a scientific curiosity. But seemingly overnight, the Eastern seaboard descends into unthinkable chaos as the fleet of self-driving vehicles adopt their own predatory morality, fixing their sights on the very top of the food chain.

Born in New York City and raised on Boston's North Shore, Warren spent years working local waters on private and commercial vessels, eventually earning his stripes as a USCG-licensed captain. But while his summers were spent at sea, his winters were dedicated to the "why" of the world—first earning an undergraduate degree in philosophy, followed by a master's degree in physics education from Boston University.
His fascination with how the world works led to the creation of the Biobarge—a 53-foot, wind-and-solar-powered simulated salt marsh—which in turn led him to a career in academia. Today, he shares his obsession with the physical sciences as both an AP Physics teacher and an adjunct physics professor. In the quiet hours before his lectures begin, Warren builds the complex systems and narratives of his novels. His work, such as Uncoded and Gaia's Quill, blends a firm grasp of physical law with a creative sense of humor, resulting in thrillers that are as scientifically grounded as they are unpredictable.