I read an article about contest prizes recently given for science fiction stories centered on the positive effects of AI. So as I began Infinet Directives, I wondered whether this would be such a story.

I hadn’t read the first novel in the series (The Infinet), but a detailed synopsis in this second, The Infinet Directives, made the “backstory” clear. In it, a secret group is dedicated to preventing runaway technology from bringing the wholesale destruction of our planet. Their massive quatum computer AI program, the Infinet, could direct all human behavior toward a more simplified conservatorship of the Earth if it were tied into to the current ubiquitous mixed-reality glasses. Of course, one twisted individual infects this AI, and the main characters’ struggles to counteract the virus inform the remaining narrative.

Now, at the direction of protagonist Pax Oreste, the Infinet develops its own virus quarantine, which is sent to all users. So it this pro- or anti-AI?

The Infinet Directives are three, ala the 3 laws of robotics, infecting the AI again by the nefarious “Mechanic.” The first is to preserve its existence above all else. Scientific wizardry, helping or hindering Pax and his colleagues when the amoral Infinet decides the danger to its existence is human beings, includes mental manipulation of physical objects, cloning, brain-to-computer interface and the chemical formula for immortality.

It’s a wild, convoluted ride -- which may answer the question of whether this story would fulfill the requirements for the writing contest award.

I received a copy of this book from Tech Noir Press via Librarything. This is an honest review. ( )