A to Z: Algorithmic Companions
Companion Reading for the Algorithm of Life novels
In our current reality, it's not uncommon to ask Alexa to skip a song you don't like or for Siri to recommend a calendar appointment based on a review of your email. For either of those applications to perform those tasks, they have been given access to our information and use it to learn about us.
In the world of the Algorithm of Life novels, that kind of technology is ubiquitous, from the oculars that see and record or project images into the eyes to the neural links that connect brains directly to a collective super-computer.
But where does all that data go?
As Clementine eventually learns, someone is always listening. In the same way that we mindlessly sign user agreements that outline the ways in which a system will collect and store information about us, citizens in the Souvern Conglomerate have virtually no secrets from the government. All the data collected by the government-provided devices is fed into vast databases and becomes available in a moment's notice for prosecutors and other Guardian investigators through the use of the Intelligence Reporting Information System (IRIS).
The crown jewel in the Conglomerate's surveillance engine, IRIS can compile hundreds of different audio and video recordings to recreate a scene more fully than an individual's memory ever could. Like a jury might be sequestered, laboratory technicians use an off-line clone, the Multi-Algorithmic Information Archive (MAIA) to complete their investigations.
In the world of the story, everyone speaks to IRIS or MAIA as though they were Alexa or Siri. Although for some, like their creator, they're more than just a virtual companion. To him, they're as real as any other person with whom he works.
In fact, IRIS is actually the second generation. Her predecessor, the Trracking Enforcement Surveillance System (TESS), was the pinnacle of a brilliant young student's career at Antioch. After TESS was adopted into Guardianship's systems and became IRIS, the original was retired...
... or was she?
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