Welcome to Human Traits | a newsletter exploring humanity's relationship with AI

As I am heading down the final stretch in completing my first novel, I thought I would share some thoughts on why I decided to even embark on such an endeavor.

But first, a quick update on the progress of the book itself. I am nearly finished with the manuscript before it gets sent to a team of editors at my publishing house. My hope is to complete the final draft version here in March and the month of April will be used for content editing, redlines and formatting. As you might have seen, the cover design is finalized!

It might appear as though I am drafting on the current trend of AI, but the truth is that this story came to me in 2019. Yes, five years ago. I completed a first draft outline in December, of 2019. This was well before generative AI or any ‘GPT’ technology had become released or even known in the public sphere. Then I sat on it. Besides an initial draft outline of the story, I also wrote the 1st chapter in 2021. Not until I was introduced to my now publisher, Keira Brinton of JOA Publishing, did this body of work start to see any momentum. After sharing the concept with her and witnessing her own excitement for the birth of this book, I hired her to become my writing coach and she agreed to be my publisher. The bulk of the writing effort started in June of 2023.

ChatGPT and OpenAI is largely responsible for opening up the floodgates of AI and creating awareness about AI’s potential. It might seem that OpenAI was an overnight success, but they were founded in December of 2015.

Make no mistake, these are the very early days of Artificial Intelligence and significant advancements are being calculated in weeks.

So, why write a novel about AI’s place in society?

For anyone that knows me, I have always been curious about how technology is interwoven into daily life. This ‘project’ has been about the deep exploration of that curiosity and how AI specifically will impact humanity. Combining my curiosity with my creativity has opened up a new outlet in pivoting my writing from casual intermittent blogging to becoming a published author.

Thank you for joining me on this journey!