The tagline used to read, “This is Not Your Father’s Oldsmobile.” Well, in the dark future we now live in, this is not your father’s Chrysler. Or maybe it is. I’m not responsible for your parent’s taste in cars. What matters is that in our rush to reach the Internet of Things, we’ve managed to be a little, uh, sloppy. If you drive an older car, an economy car, or something with a seriously locked down ECM (seriously, Toyota, knock it off), then you don’t have anything to fear…yet. But if you drive a brand new Jeep Cherokee, your car was just subject to a recall due to hacking.

The long and the short of it is that those clever lads at Wired remotely hacked into a Jeep via Chrysler’s UConnect system, severely compromising the unit. You can read the article in full, but essentially the car’s infotainment system acts as a gateway into the CAN bus of the vehicle. For those of you who do not know much about vehicle electronics I can explain: this is a very, very bad thing. This is like someone sticking electrodes into your brain so they can make you dance, and dance the Jeep did. With the control obtained, the hacking team was able to control almost the entire vehicle, including the steering, brakes, and transmission.


Granted, the hack is not easy to accomplish, requiring specific information about the targeted vehicle as well as the system architecture, but it is doable. The biggest takeaway from this whole ordeal, however, is that Chrysler has now conducted a recall on 1.4 million vehicles because of this vulnerability. It’s one thing when you get annoying spam on your computer. It’s an entirely different type of game when someone hacks into your car, disables the steering, locks the doors, and then has the vehicle go to wide open throttle. This is the stuff of menace. If they aren’t already, the CIA must be salivating at the prospect of getting certain world leaders into a new Jeep at no money down, no interest for six months.

Technology is a tool. It can be a great tool, but like any complicated device, those that know the intricate details hold power over others. Whether that’s a government, a hacking ring, or a rogue individual, knowledge is power. The ability to think creatively and unconventionally is one aspect that makes us uniquely human. Our need to solve problems with our minds can lead to powerful changes in the way we do things.

When the scales become unbalanced, then we have to make a choice. Do we vest the power in an entity that we feel connected to, such as our government? Do we let corporations police themselves and trust that they will carry out their due diligence in maintaining security and safety? Or do we take upon ourselves the mantel of knowledge and find ways to remain secure without having to sacrifice our liberty in the process?

Problems like this will only continue to manifest, and with increasing frequency. The promise of the future is a completely interconnected world where you fridge maintains your diet, your car drives you to work, and your boss is a robot that dolls out tasks in a completely neutral, PC manner. Your doctor can give you a physical remotely, you and your significant other can be intimate across long distances, and your leisure time is spent in virtual worlds as convincing as our own real one. The question is, how much space for humans is left under all of that technology?



A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony,” a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk thrill ride where all the cars are too cool to be hacked.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.  

I'm very pleased and honored to announce that this Sunday, July 26th, I'll be involved in my first public appearance as an author. A local book club has chosen my cyberpunk novel, "Jupiter Symphony," as their title of the month, and they have invited me to come chat with them about the novel. Suffice to say, I'm incredibly excited about this opportunity.

It doesn't hurt that the whole thing is going down at Magnum's Cigar Lounge in Phoenix. I'm a real sucker when it comes to a single malt and a rich cigar. Come to any of my social events and I'll happily prove it to you. More than just a chance to roll smoke and savor a fine malt, though, is the opportunity to get face to face feedback on my novel.

I wrote last week about the human element that can be lost through technology, and that can easily be the case with ebooks. Our fans are virtual, our events held online, our interactions limited to chats and blogs and podcasts. Getting out and meeting people in the flesh, seeing their excitement, getting to know them: that's a huge part in the feedback loop that makes a good author.

While I hope they enjoyed the novel (I have yet to meet someone who hasn't, so... hint hint), I also hope they bring forward their questions, concerns, and criticisms. I want to be a better writer. I know I am capable of doing so. In preparation for this event I've been rereading my first book and let me tell you, there are some really awful sentences in there. They may not seem like it on the first go round, but let me tell you, they exist.

This isn't to disparage my work or plead sympathy. This is just a reflection on my growth and experience, on how I can recognize my own flaws and work to correct them. What comes out of this is a better product, both in my new novels and in later editions of my first one.

So even if you're not in the book club, if you fancy a good drink and a fine cigar, along with some conversation about some crazy, heady subjects, swing by and say hello this Sunday at 2 PM. Magnum's is at 731 E Union Hills Dr, Suite B10. I'll be bringing along a gorgeous, 19x11 glossy printout of my cover image, so you can't miss it. Looking forward to seeing you there.


A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony,” a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk thrill ride.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.  

You are seeing the face of a dead man. A man who passed away just over a day ago after suffering for nine months from a head injury from a crash at the 2014 Japanese Grand Prix. He was only 25, younger than me. Younger than my little brother, even. His is the first racing death in an F1 Grand Prix since the great Ayrton Senna was lost 21 years ago. His potential was already apparent, but we will never know what he might have achieved if he had been given more time.

I don’t typically write about Formula 1 racing, or racing in general, even though it is a passion of mine. Cars are characters in my novels, not just modes of transport. They illustrate the rebellious nature of the protagonists, their nonconformity, and their willingness to push harder and faster than those around them. I’ve been in love with cars since I was a young boy. I’ve been a fervent follower of F1 for nearly a decade now. One of my single greatest regrets is not getting to see Senna when he raced in Phoenix, even if it was a lousy circuit. I was just a boy at the time, sitting in Sunday school, listening to the sound of the Formula 1 cars only a few miles distant, their exhaust notes echoing off the scorching concrete.

So where does a science fiction writer who rambles about cyberpunk get off suddenly tossing the death of a promising young F1 driver into the mix? I’d like to say the answer is technology, but it’s actually quite the opposite. The answer is the humanity.

Simply put, racing is a dangerous sport. People have tried to argue that racing drivers are not athletes. An excellent article agreed with them, stating that no, they were not athletes. They were more than athletes. When looking at contact sports such as football, American football (handegg), rugby, etc., we see highly trained, highly paid athletes colliding with one another at human speeds. And while it’s true there is an issue with head injuries, none of that compares with what a professional racing driver puts on the line every time he climbs into the cockpit. A racing driver is not betting his career or his fortune. He’s not wagering his stats or his championship hopes. He is flat out, 100% putting his own life on the line. The gamble in F1, in Indy, in WEC, is not about winning, it’s about staying alive.

The thing people tend to forget, as humans are wont to, is that so much forethought, engineering, and wisdom goes into designing safe race cars that we suddenly think the driver is encased in something straight out of Death Proof. You can’t argue with physics, though. No matter how well designed a race car may be, how strong the carbon fiber, how structurally reinforced the roll cage, physics will win out in the end. It’s not a matter of if, it’s a matter of when.

But time after time we see incredible crashes, and then watch the driver casually get out of the car and walk away as if he was taking a simple jaunt through the park. Meanwhile the car is scattered over a quarter of a mile, parts and fluids having flown off in all directions. Each part that leaves the car takes energy with it. Like a shock absorber, the longer the car can go tumbling and bouncing down the course, the more energy is lost and the less severe the impact transferred to the driver. Thus, we see cars that look like hell and drivers that look fine.

With the approach of self-driving cars, the use of drones in warfare, and an increasing reliance on robots, much of the human element is being removed from daily activities. In many ways this is a good thing. Humans, for all that they are capable of, are just as capable of making a mistake. Technology can be an amazing solution to our problems, but it quickly becomes a crutch. In the death of the young Jules Bianchi we are faced with the stark reality that machines are fallible, designs are flawed, and accidents can and will happen. My heart goes out to Jules’ family. The entire motorsports world is reeling, but this is not the last time it will happen. There may come a day when you see robots and machines handling all of our difficult, dangerous, and dirty tasks, but you will never see anything but a human piloting a racecar around a circuit. Without that risk, without life and death balanced on the scales, racing becomes just an exercise in technical development, and puts us one step further away from our roots as living, breathing creatures. We salute the brave men and women who race, compete, and win. We recognize that for them, racing is everything. Even if nobody was watching, they would be there, risking it all just to push that little bit further, to dip one toe over the edge. On the other side is death, and by brushing against it, we find out just how much we are alive.

Forza Jules.


A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony,” a post-apocalyptic cyberpunk thrill ride.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo. 

Our final stop along on the tour of science-fiction turned reality is a concept that is far-flung, esoteric, and much more speculative than any of the topics previously discussed. Up until the point of AI, every concept discussed is either in development or close to reaching a proof of concept stage. The singularity, however, is a very large question mark, but that’s also part of its appeal. It’s fun to guess at the future, and the hottest topic to be in on right now, the must know issue, is that of the singularity and self-directed human evolution.

First, a brief explanation of exactly what the singularity is and what it means. Simply put, the technological singularity is a proposed advancement in multiple technology fields that yield an artificial or semi-synthetic intelligence capable of creating an intelligence explosion by rebuilding, improving and replicating itself. In many versions of this theory, humanity itself merges with the intelligence, acting either as a catalyst or else using the singularity as the sole method of communication, thought, and evolution. The end result is humanity evolving beyond biological constraints, forming a symbiotic (or potentially parasitic) relationship with machines.

What we see is a compounding effect, from the basics of understanding our own biology and technology (such as in prosthesis), inventing new methods of biocompatible production (additive manufacturing), implementing the “internet of things” into our implantable devices (bionics), exceeding our biological limitations (power armor), creating a way of viewing the world artificially (augmented reality), and creating an entity powerful enough to coordinate our separate intelligences while also driving innovation and advancement (artificial intelligence). With all these factors in place, it then remains to be seen if a “breakout” will occur. It is entirely possible that the singularity could be a natural progression, just as the humans adapt any new technology. There is also the possibility of a forced ignition, in which humanity would have to make a collective, conscious decision to start down the path of self-directed evolution, where we would become separated from the constraints of nature and could exist as states of energy, as packets of data, or as cyborgs that interact physically with the world but see everything through a filter of projection like the Cylons of Battlestar Galactica.

Like most technologies, though, this evolution is not without risk. If we begin to function as a collective conscious, how invasive would our shared processes become? Just recently the New York Times featured a fascinating article on linking together animals with brain electrodes. In doing so, they were able to carry out various tests, including three monkeys working together to manipulate the various axis of a virtual arm. It was a very strong indicator that linked brains could work together and do so in ways that were greater than the sum of their parts. But for humans to do the same, it may be necessary to remove our very concepts of privacy, modesty, and independence. The conscious mind would be laid bare throughout the species. This alone could scuttle the prospect of a singularity, or it may indeed be the unifying force that brings humanity together. I personally hold that almost everyone lives with the same urges, desires, fears, and irrationalities, only some do a better job at hiding it than others.

There is another threat to consider, though, and that is what to do if the machine interface, the artificial intelligence, decides that it would function better without us? Machines building machines, even if those machines are meant for us, still removes our hands from the equation. When you exist as a digital entity, you can’t do much to influence the physical world around you. The AI could also become malevolent, or multiple AIs could exist and, coupled with human emotions, wage war on one another. We again would have to look at Asimov’s Three Laws to ensure any type of machine interface would be beneficial to the user and those around them, incapable of causing harm. Of course, the AI could always misinterpret a threat.

At its core, though, the possibility of the technological singularity is founded on the known currents along which our research and development is traveling. If we were to do away with the need for our physical bodies and embrace a new stage of existence, whole new worlds become available to us, including a voyage into the stars. Without sickness, without death, we would be free to grow and explore, negating the factor of time as we stretch out across the galaxy. A singular collective entity, emboldened by our abilities and our intelligence, would be an amazingly powerful force in the galaxy, one which could…

…Oh, wait.


A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony," which does not deal with the singularity, but does deal with a really awesome second American revolution.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.

With advances in technology, electronics, and cybernetics (the electronic analog, not bionics), humanity is seeing amazing new inventions appear at a rapid pace. One of the principle focuses of several organizations such as Google (and even the CIA), is to build a quantum computer. For those who are unfamiliar, a quantum computer differs from a digital computer in that they use quantum elements (atoms and molecules) as elements for processing and memory, allowing unprecedented speed and flexibility. Rudimentary ones exist, but a functional has not yet been made. The important point to focus on, though, is what may result from the creation of a quantum computer. Namely: Artificial Intelligence.

Now, there are already things that we refer to as AI, such as the “intelligence” programmed into enemies and friendlies in video games. Different computing systems or pieces of software may leverage “AI,” but what they are really talking about is an adaptive piece of software that still operates within the constraints of its environment and is strictly limited to its programming. No new information can go in, and no creative output is possible. While these programs can sometimes be very convincing (as evidenced by attempts to spoof humans into chatting with pieces of code online), they are not really what scientists, inventors, and (most) science-fiction authors would consider artificial intelligence.

When it comes to artificial intelligence, real artificial intelligence, many people, smart people, are terrified. And rightly so. To lend credence, Stephen Hawking and Elon Musk count themselves among those who are very concerned with the responsible development of AI, with Musk putting up millions of his own money to fund a think tank to research the subject. Now for those of us who have to work nine to five and don’t get to spend all our time speculating and inventing, this may all be a waste of effort and silliness. If an electronic intelligence (a lifeform?) emerges, we can just shut it off, right? It worked in 2001: A Space Oddesy.

Unfortunately the reality is a little more grim. For one, we may not be able to recognize artificial intelligence, as human-like thought is a very complex function that cannot be quantified by any conclusive test. Even among the humans we know, several of them probably fall into a camp that you would label as “asinine,” while others may surprise you as idiot-savants. Can you administer an IQ test to a computer? More importantly, will the computer consent to the test, or will it willfully fake the results? One of the most basic instincts of any living organism is self-preservation; it’s not so farfetched to think an AI wouldn’t hide it’s identity until it knew it was either safe enough or powerful enough to come forward.

And that’s when the Terminators come, right?

Well, not exactly. While Skynet sticks in the imagination of apocalyptic AI, the reality is that a new intelligence would not need to take on any corporeal form to do either harm or good. Witness STUXNET, the computer virus that caused physical damage to the Iranian nuclear enrichment centrifuges just a few years ago. With the increased reliance on computer networks to run power and water grids, communications systems, and other utilities such as bank transactions, an AI set loose into the ether would be a very dicey proposition. But where there is a problem, there is almost always a solution.

Just like Asimov’s Three Laws of Robotics, an effort should be put forth to determine the laws of artificial intelligence. To that end, I introduce a concept of “dumb” vs. “smart” AI. Featured in several works of science fiction, the concept is that a dumb AI would still be considered to have a razor sharp intelligence. It would think faster and adapt more quickly, coming up with more creative solutions than any human could. The difference is that it could only do this within one field or function. A dumb AI designed for medical purposes would only be able to function within predetermined limits. It could diagnose and treat diseases, analyze infection vectors, or iterate billions or trillions of possible drug treatments for different ailments. Anything outside this realm, however, would simply be a foreign concept. Try to ask it about dinner and you might as well be speaking to it in Japanese. The AI is allowed to learn, function, and express creativity but only within a given sphere.

A smart AI, by contrast, is your full on HAL 9000, your Skynet, your Matrix AI. Capable of limitless expansion, it operates of its own accord and can accomplish mental tasks that would be impossible even for a collective of the finest human minds. It could be our greatest savior, or our worst nightmare. It could also turn out to be completely indifferent to organics, which it may perceive as being so slow and worthless that it just does it’s own thing, ignoring us completely. All in all, we run a 33% chance of annihilation if we allow the invention and proliferation of smart AI.

So artificial intelligence could wind up being a force of collective good, or it could wipe out humanity as we know it. Worth the gamble? Well, there is another factor to consider, and that is this: what if we could join with the AI? What if we created a global network of linked human intelligences, all channeled through quantum computers and coordinated by an artificial intelligence powerful enough that humanity could communicate and cooperate with zero interference or inhibition? That...leads us to the Singularity, and that is a topic for next week.


A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony," in which one of the characters bonds with an AI and becomes the savior of the revolution.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.

Apologies for the slight inconsistency in blog postings as of late.

My nine to five job was massively busy at the end of last month. Atop this, is the fact that I was busy prepping and interviewing for a new position. Now I get to sit and stew to see if I'll be changing job functions.

Outside of work, my side business recently saw a bump in activity that required my attention. When it comes to writing blog posts and having to ship physical product, guess which one gets tossed out the window?

Obviously I'm not complaining; these are all good and exciting developments. It would be nice, however, to be able to focus on one thing at a time instead of being pulled a million directions at once. Oh, did I mention 4th of July weekend was spent down at a friend's house, and between the Scotch and cigars, not much writing was happening. Horrible, I know.

At the minimum, I'm glad to give some updates on the writing front, seeing is that is what people are here for.

"Jupiter Symphony" is still running at a discount of $2.99, and can be picked up at Amazon, Smashwords, and most other major ebook retailers (including Apple's iBookstore). If you haven't had a chance to peek at my premier novel of a cyberpunk revolution in the near future, I suggest you read the reviews and the preview. It's a fast, fun book with lots to offer for readers of all walks.

"Unto Persephone" is still going through editing and is finally blossoming out to its true length and depth. Though still a little shorter than "Jupiter Symphony," I'm really proud of the direction it's heading, the content, and the delivery. The action is even more intense than in "Jupiter Symphony," and the main protagonist has to grapple with a tragic downfall that seems inescapable. Right now I'm on track to have this one released by the end of the year, which is exciting.

On a lighter note, "Whisky & Rye, Episode I: On the House," is fully plotted out, while writing is roughly 50% completed. This is a project I'm working on with a co-author and good friend. The best I can sum it up is Super Troopers meets Dirty Harry. It's been a riot to write, and everyone who has sampled it has fallen over with laughter. Since it's a novella, you can expect to see this one hit in a couple month's time, and it will be completely F-R-E-E.

That's about all I have for updates. It's time to hit the hay so I can wake up tomorrow and fret over corporate life. I didn't choose the corp life, the corp life chose me. Or was that when I was playing a corporate in Cyberpunk 2020?


A.C. Harrison is the author of "Jupiter Symphony," a slick and deadly cyberpunk adventure.
Like what you see here? Spread the word and support indie authors! Follow me on Facebook or Twitter. Find me on Smashwords and Kindlemojo.