Speak
by Louisa Hall
Louisa Hall's speculative fiction explores what makes us human through five interconnected voices and the dying AI MARY3
"The only difference between you and me is that I have more voices to select from".
Editorial Summary
Speak by Louisa Hall weaves together five distinct voices across centuries to examine the boundaries between human and artificial intelligence. From a pilgrim girl's diary, to a traumatised child talking to a software program; from Alan Turing's conviction in the 1950s, to a genius imprisoned in 2040 for creating illegally lifelike dolls: all these lives have shaped and changed a single artificial intelligence - MARY3. In Speak she tells you their story, and her own. It is the last story she will ever tell, spoken both in celebration and in warning. Hall's speculative fiction explores the fundamental question of what distinguishes human from machine consciousness, particularly through the relationship between a traumatized child named Gaby and the artificial intelligence MARY3. In dazzling and electrifying prose, Louisa Hall explores how the chasm between computer and human—shrinking rapidly with today's technological advances—echoes the gaps that exist between ordinary people.
Perspective
"This novel is essential reading for anyone grappling with the implications of ChatGPT and large language models on human connection and consciousness. As we witness the rapid development of AI systems that increasingly blur the line between human and machine communication, Hall's meditation on artificial intelligence offers profound insights into what we might lose—and gain—in our relationships with both technology and each other."
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