{"id":56644,"date":"2020-06-15T11:53:04","date_gmt":"2020-06-15T01:53:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?p=56644"},"modified":"2020-06-15T14:22:11","modified_gmt":"2020-06-15T04:22:11","slug":"from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/","title":{"rendered":"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/figure>\n

I read Burn-in<\/em><\/a>\u2014the follow-up novel to Ghost Fleet<\/em> by Peter W. Singer and August Cole\u2014using an artificial-intelligence-driven app that converted PDF text to speech, which I listened to through wireless ear pods. Occasionally I\u2019d pause it using my smart watch\u2014often to help my kindergartner keep up with her distanced education via Zoom, YouTube clips and a variety of Silicon Valley\u2013created online education start-ups.<\/p>\n

In many ways this was completely unremarkable. A decade ago, however, it would have been hard to imagine outside of a James Bond film. Doing it in the suburbs of Washington DC\u2014amid a crisis that everyone knew could <\/em>happen, but somehow never planned for the time when it would <\/em>happen\u2014it felt like I was living out an approximation of a chapter in the book itself. And that\u2019s the entire point.<\/p>\n

Science fiction has always been a powerful tool for examining our society. It invites us to challenge our assumptions and reconsider our biases by exaggerating and abstracting elements of our society and culture or by creating alternative and hypothetical futures. But these scenes often take place in elaborate and fantastical settings\u2014far in the future, on other planets or in extreme caricatures of society. When the setting is the near future, it\u2019s often in films or video games that give priority to entertainment or narrative over realistic explorations of the more mundane realities of living with emerging technologies.<\/p>\n

What characterises the fiction that Singer and Cole produce is that it starts with the technology, and then explores the many ways it affects our lives as human beings. The style is a direct manifestation of the nature of the authors themselves.<\/p>\n

Both are true believers in and advocates for the value of science fiction in exploring our future society. They are leading experts on emerging technologies and their implications and have been fixtures of the national security community in the United States for decades. Like anyone else who\u2019s active in exploring technology adoption in the national security realm, I\u2019ve known and worked with both authors for going on a decade.<\/p>\n

And that\u2019s precisely why the story has a familiarity and authenticity that anyone in the field will immediately recognise. It comes from decades of not only studying emergent issues that others are barely aware of yet, but also interacting with military and law enforcement personnel, decision-makers and those involved at every level of government and society, and considering how technology will impact them.<\/p>\n

This authentic feel is captured in the description of locations around DC, both public\u2014such as Union Station\u2014and those accessible only to people who are embedded in the community\u2014such as the FBI\u2019s Hostage Rescue Team training facility at Quantico. It\u2019s also reflected in the realities of DC life\u2014such as the nightmare that is peak-hour traffic\u2014through to the language, concerns and behaviours of those who live and work here.<\/p>\n

The story focuses on a former US marine turned FBI agent who is tracking down a terrorist threat in a near-future Washington awash with robotic and AI platforms. While Ghost Fleet<\/em> was about the risk of conflict between the US and its great-power competitors, and how a future war might be fought with tomorrow\u2019s weapons, Burn-in<\/em> looks at the human impacts of robotics and AI and the ripple effects on different facets of society\u2014from how the technology affects white-collar jobs to how family members engage with one another in the home.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re familiar with Ghost Fleet<\/em>\u2014and given that its on most recommended reading lists for military officers, its likely you are\u2014you\u2019ll know that the book is written in a way that seeks to contextualise technologies that have operational prototypes and are nearing widespread employment. In this way, it bridges pure fiction and a dry report on emerging tech. This approach can be slightly clunky and may not be attractive to all audiences. When you know what you\u2019re looking for, it can stand out\u2014like product placements in movies.<\/p>\n

Make no mistake: trying to write good science fiction is hard. If you haven\u2019t tried it, then do so (seriously\u2014the more who engage in these thought experiments the better). Trying to build an authentic world that\u2019s a realistic reflection of how emerging tech will shape our lives is incredibly difficult. Yet this is the whole purpose. As Frederick Pohl said, \u2018A good science fiction story should be able to predict not the automobile but the traffic jam.\u2019 Singer and Cole have succeeded admirably in exploring the traffic jam that AI will cause in our lives in the near future.<\/p>\n

So, if you are like me and appreciate a thoughtful exploration of the manifestly complex implications of imminent tech adoption in the national security arena, embedded in a compelling narrative, this book will be well worth your time.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

I read Burn-in\u2014the follow-up novel to Ghost Fleet by Peter W. Singer and August Cole\u2014using an artificial-intelligence-driven app that converted PDF text to speech, which I listened to through wireless ear pods. Occasionally I\u2019d pause …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":300,"featured_media":56645,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mi_skip_tracking":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1291,32,332],"class_list":["post-56644","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-book-review","tag-technology"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFrom the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"I read Burn-in\u2014the follow-up novel to Ghost Fleet by Peter W. Singer and August Cole\u2014using an artificial-intelligence-driven app that converted PDF text to speech, which I listened to through wireless ear pods. Occasionally I\u2019d pause ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"The Strategist\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2020-06-15T01:53:04+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2020-06-15T04:22:11+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"678\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"John Watts\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@ASPI_org\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"John Watts\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\",\"name\":\"The Strategist\",\"description\":\"ASPI's analysis and commentary site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg\",\"width\":1000,\"height\":678},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/\",\"name\":\"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#primaryimage\"},\"datePublished\":\"2020-06-15T01:53:04+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2020-06-15T04:22:11+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/60586fc88b7cb6aa90fa0a98e45957fd\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019\"}]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/60586fc88b7cb6aa90fa0a98e45957fd\",\"name\":\"John Watts\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-AU\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72816c94fac7723dd61ade792a65a0c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72816c94fac7723dd61ade792a65a0c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"John Watts\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-watts\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist","og_description":"I read Burn-in\u2014the follow-up novel to Ghost Fleet by Peter W. Singer and August Cole\u2014using an artificial-intelligence-driven app that converted PDF text to speech, which I listened to through wireless ear pods. Occasionally I\u2019d pause ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/","og_site_name":"The Strategist","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/ASPI.org","article_published_time":"2020-06-15T01:53:04+00:00","article_modified_time":"2020-06-15T04:22:11+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1000,"height":678,"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"John Watts","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@ASPI_org","twitter_site":"@ASPI_org","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"John Watts","Est. reading time":"4 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/","name":"The Strategist","description":"ASPI's analysis and commentary site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-AU"},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/06\/burninbook1506.jpg","width":1000,"height":678},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/","url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/","name":"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019 | The Strategist","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#primaryimage"},"datePublished":"2020-06-15T01:53:04+00:00","dateModified":"2020-06-15T04:22:11+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/60586fc88b7cb6aa90fa0a98e45957fd"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-AU","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/from-the-bookshelf-burn-in-a-novel-of-the-real-robotic-revolution\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"From the bookshelf: \u2018Burn-in: a novel of the real robotic revolution\u2019"}]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/60586fc88b7cb6aa90fa0a98e45957fd","name":"John Watts","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-AU","@id":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72816c94fac7723dd61ade792a65a0c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/72816c94fac7723dd61ade792a65a0c3?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"John Watts"},"url":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/author\/john-watts\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56644"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/300"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=56644"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56644\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":56652,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/56644\/revisions\/56652"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/56645"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=56644"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=56644"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.aspistrategist.ru\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=56644"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}