Avogadro Corp
The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears
by William Hertling · first published 2011
68% recommend32% neutral
Why HN recommends it
Entertaining near-future AI thriller about a Google-like company's email-assistant AI that slips its bounds, with NLP and worm-style spread that feel plausible; suits readers who want realistic AI-takeoff sci-fi.
Summarised by Claude from recommending comments
David Ryan is the designer of ELOPe, an email language optimization program, that if successful, will make his career. But when the project is suddenly in danger of being canceled, David embeds a hidden directive in the software accidentally creating a runaway artificial intelligence. David and his team are initially thrilled when the project is allocated extra servers and programmers. But excitement turns to fear as the team realizes that they are being manipulated by an A.I. who is redirecting corporate funds, reassigning personnel and arming itself in pursuit of its own agenda.
Affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
Related books
2016–2021The Penguin History of the World
John Morris Roberts
Recommended by 4 · mentioned by 54 recommend · 5 mention4 recommend · 54 recommend
2017–2024Autonomous
Annalee Newitz
Recommended by 6 · mentioned by 116 recommend · 11 mention6 recommend · 116 recommend
2013–2026Nexus
Ramez Naam
Recommended by 32 · mentioned by 3632 recommend · 36 mention32 recommend · 3632 recommend
2012–2025Rapture of the Nerds
Cory Doctorow, Charles Stross
Recommended by 9 · mentioned by 159 recommend · 15 mention9 recommend · 159 recommend
2009–2026The adolescence of P-1
Thomas J. Ryan
Recommended by 11 · mentioned by 1611 recommend · 16 mention11 recommend · 1611 recommend
2011–2024Embassytown
China Miéville
Recommended by 14 · mentioned by 2414 recommend · 24 mention14 recommend · 2414 recommend
2007–2026Otherland
Tad Williams
Recommended by 10 · mentioned by 2410 recommend · 24 mention10 recommend · 2410 recommend
…very interesting ideas on what happens to the world with very good brain-computer interfaces. It's set in the near-future, but I do think the tech is implausible here for so soon. William Hertling's Avogadro Corp is about a paperclip maximizer built by mistake by a Google-like company, with a Gmail-like service that is manipulated by said paperclip maximizer.
on “How Magic Leap Is Creating an Alternate Reality” ↗Avogadro Corp: The Singularity is Closer than it Appears by William Hertling, as well as the other three books in the series. https://www.amazon.com/Avogadro-Corp-Singularity-Closer-Appe...
on “Ask HN: What good books have you read in 2016?” ↗I remember reading Avogadro Corp.[1] a couple of years ago and being impressed at how its AI (NLP in particular) felt quite in touch with the real stuff. I think it was self-published but I'm not sure. [1] https://www.amazon.com/Avogadro-Corp-Singularity-Closer-Appe...
on “Science fiction hasn’t prepared us to imagine machine learning” ↗Comedic sci fi is getting me back into it: John Scalzi writes a kickass tale- Old Man's War series Robert Kroese just hilarious - Starship Grifters Read a while ago and couldn't put it down - Avogadro Corp: The Singularity is Closer than it Appers by William Hertling
on “Ask HN: What is HN reading?” ↗The series starting with "Avogadro Corp" by William Hertling comes to mind. Looking forward to our AI overlords.
on “AI-Powered Meeting Scheduler X.ai Raises $9.2M Series A” ↗I really enjoyed the Daemon series. In a similar vein, you might want to try William Hertling's Avogadro Corp.series.
on “Ask HN: Which book are you reading these days?” ↗…expand the human race. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman[5]. Starship Troopers, except with relativity, and so the poor SOBs on the front-lines watch the rest of the world move ahead millenias around them. Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears by William Hertling[6]. A team at a suspiciously Google-like corporation inadvertently creates an AI system integrated with their email system, which develops…
on “Ask HN: What are the best books you've read this year?” ↗Apart from classics like Neuromancer I'd recommend the fairly new Singularity Series by William Hertling and the first novel "Avogadro Corp" in particular.
on “Ask HN: Best hard scifi AI novels?” ↗I highly recommend "Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer Than It Appears" by William Hertling to anyone interested in some good AI scifi around computer worms/virus.
on “The Stuxnet worm may be the most sophisticated software ever written” ↗Not that new anymore (the first part of the series was published in 2011) but I can highly recommend William Hertling's Singularity Series, which starts with Avogadro Corp: http://www.williamhertling.com/books/
on “Ask HN: Recent sci-fi recommendations” ↗…sorry. Entertaining classic; Gibson: Virtual Light, Idoru Thinking ahead; Marshall Brain: The Second Intelligent Species Smart reply became reality but luckily it did not turn into SkyNet; W. Hertling: Avogadro Corp. Startup advice; Fitzpatrick: The Mom Test About "value"; Priceonomics: Everything is Bullshit Entertaining; Ramez Naam: Nexus
on “Ask HN: Recommend one book I need to read this summer?” ↗https://www.amazon.com/Avogadro-Corp-William-Hertling-audiob... Singularity Series by William Hertling. It's a few years old but I think it really nailed where AI could go - both in amazing positive ways but also in dark ways as well.…
on “Ask HN: Science Fiction books that predict where ChatGPT might lead us?” ↗Sounds like you are referring to book 1 in a series, the book called "Avogadro Corp: The Singularity Is Closer than It Appears" by William Hertling. I read 3-4 of those books, they were entertaining.
on “Adding a feature because ChatGPT incorrectly thinks it exists” ↗For a really fun exploration of this, read Avogadro Corp by William Hertling.
on “Google Meet’s new AI will be able to go to meetings for you” ↗…point I would argue is that if the "AI" is smart enough to handle all this on its own, it will probably realize it doesn't need to work for you :) There was a recent science-fiction book I read called "Avogadro Corp" that I enjoyed a lot. It depicts the situation I just described. Good read, I recommend it.
on “Why 'Her' will dominate UI design even more than 'Minority Report'” ↗