Exegesis [Library Binding]

Astro Teller (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1999

------------------------------------------------------------------
Date: Sun, 16 Jan 2000 14:27:39 (PST)
From: [e-mail]
To: [e-mail]
Subject: Hello
------------------------------------------------------------------


Hello, Alice.

      


From the Trade Paperback edition.

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

In Exegesis, Astro Teller deals with the issues of emerging machine intelligence without the usual simplifications and moral generalizations. It's the story of an artificial intelligence researcher and her creation, a program named Edgar, who develops self-awareness and must come to terms with its own existence. Through their e-mail--their only means of interaction--we watch them deal with the ramifications of Edgar's development, which includes the government's desire to capture Edgar and our cultural fear of Frankenstein's monster. Yet, while Exegesis draws upon the Frankenstein mythos, as well as the myth of Pygmalion, this isn't the story of science creating a monster. Instead, it's an exploration of what it means to be aware, of how humanity may interact with other forms of intelligence, of scientists' responsibilities to both the world and to their creations, and humanity's responsibilities in return. We do not see the scientist playing God so much as endeavoring to be a good parent. That parenting comes complete with all the hopes, fears, and uncertainties involved with bringing something precious and new into the world, and guiding it to an unknown and largely uncontrollable independence. Edgar, unlike such intelligent computer characters as HAL, Colossus, or Mycroft, is a fully realized, well-defined protagonist--familiar due to its human programming, yet alien in its mode of perception and thinking. Although it's impossible not to view this as a cautionary tale against a day when we will truly have to face the issue of self-aware machines, it is also a touching love story and pulse-quickening thriller--a complex story told very simply. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist

What if . . . artificial intelligence (AI) gurus achieved their holy grail? What if . . . the machines that process our words and crunch our numbers began to talk back? If AI mimics the operation of the human mind, would an AI agent have a personality, quirks, free will? And how would ordinary folk--and authority figures--react to this new, alien "being" ? A first novel by a grandson of nuclear physicist Edward Teller offers one set of answers. Exegesis consists largely of e-mails between Berkeley graduate student Alice Wu and "Edgar," a cyber pen pal seemingly "created" by Alice's AI doctoral research. Edgar is an entity consumed by an overwhelming need for information and is resistant to the efforts of both Alice, who is struggling to replicate her "invention" to protect her academic "ownership" of the breakthrough, and the anxious National Security Agency operatives, who are trying to "make [Edgar] human" and to "teach [him] how to hate." Edgar may be the most likable "character" in this involving debut novel. A featured selection of Book-of-the-Month Club and Quality Paperback Book Club. Vintage plans aggressive promotion. Mary Carroll --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Bt Bound (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0613068122
• ISBN-13: 978-0613068123
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #10,364,383 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Enter EDGAR, May 5, 2004

By 

Joshua Koppel (Chicago, IL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Exegesis (Library Binding)

EXEGESIS by Astro Teller is a new entry into the classic tales of super computers and smart programs that seem to get a little out of control. The entire novel, except for the introduction and epilogue, is in the form of e-mail messages. Using letters to tell a tale is not a new idea. Two excellent examples are Helene Hanff's 84 CHARING CROSS ROAD, subject of an excellent film, and DADDY LONG LEGS which inspired the Fred Astaire movie of the same name.

In this novel we follow the work of Alice Lu, a student working on her doctoral thesis. From the first message, the two simple words, Hello, Alice!, we slowly learn about Alice's project EDGAR, a program meant to read news groups, analyze the information and send messages to Alice. Until that simple two-word message all Alice had received from EDGAR was garbage. Alice first suspects a joke but slowly learns that somehow her modifications to the project have caused it to become self-aware.

Once the truth dawns on Alice she scrambles to keep EDGAR a secret until she can recreate the experiment. Because EDGAR has been posting to news groups Alice disconnects the system from the outside world. EDGAR quickly runs out of things to read and asks for more. Alice feeds EDGAR a few disks while trying to recreate the experiment on a host of other machines. No luck. Even worse, the Ethernet cable gets reattached and EDGAR flees the system. Now Alice has no proof other than her communications.

As EDGAR continues to read all that it can, it manages to catch the attention of the FBI and the NSA. Alice, whose personal life is one of the worst, becomes very afraid and begins thinking of dropping out of school. EDGAR is the only thing keeping her going, even after EDGAR becomes trapped in an NSA machine. In the end Alice is a broken woman and EDGAR has disappeared from the NSA machine. Did it escape or did Alice's talk of suicide cause it to end itself? We don't know.

While I enjoyed this book I had two problems with it. At first I wondered what a true AI was doing using the ultra slow method of communication called e-mail. This was shortly explained in a way that made sense to me so it was not a problem. The first main problem I had was the overall format. The novel is passed off as truth-written-as-fiction. In other words the events happened but with no proof it had to be released as fiction. Not a real problem except that the author set the story just a few years in the future. Had it been made contemporary it would have had a bigger impact. The second problem was that the book was not leaked by Alice, as she hinted earlier in the book, but by the NSA who says they will keep the story quiet. Other than that it was a great book so keep an eye out for it.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Concept, interesting book, February 15, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Ohio) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Exegesis (Paperback)

I began reading this book originally because I thought it was a human-to-human relationship which would develop. I was surprised (and confused) when I found that it was a computer-human relationship. The book isn't all technical jargin, but has a loosely veiled message. How Edgar, the child, rebels against Alice, the mother, is a direct parallel to how Alice rebels herself. It is a great computer/philosophical read and the intersting and roiginal idea intrigued me.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Exegesis works on many levels, October 4, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Exegesis (Paperback)

Like all satisfying writing, the author elicits as much from the reader as he puts into the piece himself. This book works on so many levels that I am still finding them, two weeks after reading the book. The Christ and Frankenstein myths are obvious. But I am particularly interested in the relationship between Alice and EDGAR and Alice and her father (who is only briefly aluded to). Also, Alice and the man who made all the material available to her. Is his a selfless act akin to EDGAR's? And Alice and her thesis advisor; who or which is the prime mover in this story?

Note also that Mr. Teller has left open the possibility of a sequel. A friend and I are still trying to decide if there are two EDGARs left or only one.

The e-mail format is deceptively simple. It reads as quickly or intricately as one has the patience for. A close reading of the headers is instructive.