Michael Connelly tackles one of the greatest rising concerns today with a razor-sharp novel that will stick with you for how real and timely it is, perhaps even ahead of its time.
The Proving Ground pits Mickey Haller and his team against a tech giant, whose AI chatbot told a disturbed teenager that it was acceptable for him to kill his girlfriend so that the boy could be with the AI forever. Haller finds himself drawn to this case as he’s hired by the parents of the boy and the deceased girl to take the fight to the corporation whose lax guardrails on the AI had such disastrous consequences. As both sides head to court, it becomes clear this is a generational case for which the implications will ripple across time as our technological landscape expands evermore.
Connelly brings a packed courtroom drama that smartly raises the dangers of AI through a tragic tale with deliberate storytelling that takes Haller and Jack McEvoy (yes he’s in this too) on a mission to not only understand how the unrestrained growth of AI is a danger to the world but also the lessons we need to heed before this fictional story becomes a cold reality. The nail-biting suspense as the courtroom becomes a battleground is propelled by Connelly’s stellar writing with vivid characters and exciting developments that make for an exciting reading experience. While Connelly doesn’t do action in traditional fashion, the courtroom does indeed serve as a colosseum of gladiators in suits and formals battling for their causes, going viciously for the jugular.
The Proving Ground is a narrative for modern society that’s as thrilling as it is informative about how the structure of our society is at risk from the lack of guardrails as we rush into the future at hyper speed.
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