Book Review: Code Word Access
“Code Word Access” is a novel that takes place in about 2050 America. I would call it a futuristic techno-thriller. The future of “Code Word Access” is one of hyper-automation and neuro-chipped humans – transhumans – who enhance their cognitive and computational processing by instantly connecting to data and quantum computer processors in the cloud through brain-chip machine interfaces.
Most of the population do not work, that is, the transhumans and the myriads of AI take care of all work, and the less capable humans are left to live on a dole called mincome. The mincome of this novel is like the Universal Basic Income (UBI) being floated around in our present day as a remedy for the expected future where most people don’t work or aren’t needed to work because AI and robotics does all the work; the universal basic income is then a minimal income paid to all the non-working people so they can afford a livelihood in the AI future. In “Code Word Access”, most people on mincomes – and also non-mincome people – spend most of their nights and days in immersive virtual reality worlds playing games or meeting each other virtually. From touring landscapes to dating, there is a virtual experience version of every experience you can think of in real life, or meatspace, as they put it.
Also, unlike the Transhumans, there are also the Organites who have refused to get neuro-chipped and live without such direct access to computing and AI.
The world of Organites and Transhumans, AI-facilitated society, global geopolitics and extremism, domestic and international enthusiasm or resistance to AI-run human lifestyle, is the setting for the main character Shawn Muller and his work for the military to develop an AI for bringing justice to terrorists. Along with his friend and childhood math tutor Amun Gurk, a pair of self-absorbed transhuman twins, a general, and substantial quantum computing resources of the military, Shawn programs the AI to make it as effective and considerate as possible in the deadly fight with terrorists.
Events take a wild turn when Shawn decides to add an ethical kernel to Lazy Jack’s code to mitigate the collateral damage from Lazy Jack’s operations. Very rapidly, Shawn ends up on Lazy Jack’s kill list, the very list he helped to build. Shawn is then on the run and has to fend for himself with a bunch of Organites that he literally runs into. From then on, the pace picks up and the book takes the reader through the politics of Organites and the opportunities and risks of the neural brain chips, as Shawn tries to evade Lazy Jack and military drones.
Another interesting aspect of this novel is how it vividly describes what a Universal Basic Income society can look like – after you take the leap of faith that UBI can be sustainably implemented. There is some concerns of whether UBI could cause inflation and therefore be ineffective. “Code Word Access” doesn’t get into details about how the mincomes are sustained, but there is ongoing discussions by economists and folks about UBI and inflation: https://shorturl.at/HBa7s. It seems that more research and pilot studies are needed to determine the would-be effectiveness of UBI.
Overall, “Code Word Access” is a great read. The world-building is just detailed enough. Character development is attentive and empathetic, though I think the author could have dialed back a little and let the reader get more of their own perspective of the personalities from their actions and interactions. “Code Word Access” is a view of AI takeover that is unlike the Skynet of the “Terminator” movies. It takes critical factors of technology and society in our day and dial it up to see what the world could look like; and that is the best of Sci-Fi and speculative fiction. Those interested in AI weapons and their ethics and effects on society should spare some time to read this.