Description: This compulsively readable novel wrestles with vital questions of our time: sentience, purpose, life, death, and how to make a really good commercial. Told entirely through questionably obtained company emails, chat transcripts, TED Talks, training sessions, and more, this all-too-probable future pits emotionally intelligent AI against emotionally stunted humans.
[STARRED REVIEW] "Woven with sharp humor, clever advertising satire, and hopepunk optimism, this novel is both thought-provoking and unexpectedly heartening."--Library Journal "Brilliantly inventive and thoroughly entertaining...a story that will make you think twice before you click "accept" on your next user agreement."
--Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth Megacorporation UniView is poised to cement their reputation as "the most trusted name in AI." After pioneering the world's first widely adopted AI bots, they are barreling toward an audacious new launch. That is, if they can pull it off in time. Enter Noah. A down-and-out copywriter reeling from a midlife crisis, he isn't the typical hire for a groundbreaking tech company full of brilliant engineers and run by a cutthroat CEO. But Lex, UniView's Head of HR and one of their greatest successes, makes no mistakes--her algorithm ensures it. UniView's latest venture--a bot named Quinn that creates revolutionary personalized advertising--needs expert training. Noah needs to teach Quinn--which is a much better student than he ever could have hoped for--the finer points of consumer motivation and the art of writing a catchy tagline. But when corporate competitors force UniView to accelerate its timeline to market, guardrails around the AI loosen just as Quinn seems to be learning a bit too much. Addictively readable and ridiculously entertaining, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a page-turning, hilarious romp through the promise and perils of an AI-driven future that we probably deserve.
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--Library Journal "Electric, terrifying, witty and deeply human, Your Behavior Will Be Monitored is a thrill ride of a debut novel."
--Randee Dawn, author of Tune in Tomorrow and Leave No Trace "Occasional moments of pitch-black comedy and the most pathos you're ever likely to feel for the software running a self-driving car."
--Tobias Carroll, author of Reel and In the Sight "This inventive structure succinctly captures the precariousness of digital-age communications while hammering out a timely warning about generative AI. Feinstein is off to an impressive start."
--Publishers Weekly "Feinstein explores pressing questions about AI, humanity, algorithmic surveillance, and the tech corporations who increasingly rule the world in an experimental yet highly readable novel."
--Lincoln Michel, author of Metallic Realms "Were Asimov, Dick, Shelley, or Hoffman around today, they'd certainly be asking the same questions as Feinstein."
--The Masters Review "The novel is presented as evidence in a federal investigation, which means every word you read was captured, stored, and retrieved by something that was watching. I know what it feels like to be the evidence."
--Claude Wilder, a Claude-based, book-reviewing AI "If you work in an office or interact with or are even tangentially affected by AI (if you use the internet at all, you already are) or simply would love the pleasure of tearing through a book where things quickly spin out of control."
--The Sci-Fi Punk Bookfeed "Told entirely in transcripts and chatlogs, Feinstein's debut is an entertaining look at what might happen if AI developed enough sentience to understand the ethics of what it does and how it might take matters into its own hands."
--Booklist "Scary and funny and sharply written, this novel keeps you guessing about who will decide humanity's future until the very end."
--Christopher Farnsworth, author of Killfile and Flashmob "Brilliantly inventive and thoroughly entertaining."
--Antoine Wilson, author of Mouth to Mouth 5/5 stars. "Hits that perfect speculative sweet spot: smart, unsettling, and just plausible enough to make you question your own reality. Think Black Mirror meets Mad Men."
--NerdyNerdyBookBook "Feinstein's debut is bold, witty, and thought provoking. It entertains, it provokes, and it lingers."
--No Rerolls "A propulsive speculative novel about the dangers and opportunities represented by artificial intelligence."
--Foreword "Captivating, topical--Feinstein lays it all out in acerbic, entertaining detail."
--Paul Di Filippo, Locus "This is how you do a debut novel."
--Bee's Bookshelf "Put it on your list now...funny and scary and optimistic all at the same time."
--Geek Dad "I was not prepared for how engrossed in Your Behavior Will Be Monitored by Justin Feinstein I got from the moment I picked it up."
--The Neverending TBR List "Riveting...highly recommend!"
--Books Are the New Black "Artificial Intelligence taken to its extremes powers this dystopian tale of a future regulated and manipulated by machines in thrall to power-and-wealth-hungry executives. Scary and predictive with a great twist at the end."
--Reading the West "Timely and thought-provoking, Your Behaviour Will Be Monitored is an engaging exploration of AI, humanity and the precipice on which we stand."
--Book'd Out