Moral Code

By: Lois Melbourne, Ross Melbourne

Narrated by: Veronica Pace

Length: 11 hrs and 44 mins

Publisher's summary

“Smart, riveting and next gen.”—Pamela Wirth, CEO and author of Saving My Son

"...a provocative science fiction novel featuring the union of two unrivaled, intelligent technologies."—Foreword Clarion Reviews

Dr. Keira Stetson is at the forefront of a technological revolution, driven by her dual passions: ethical artificial intelligence—AI with a conscience—and creating technology that enhances children’s lives. Trapped in an earthquake-flattened building with a half-dozen panicked five-year-olds, she fears the worst. When billionaire Roy Brandt leverages his mysterious nanite technology to rescue them, she’s both grateful and intrigued.

Impressed by his prototype technology but alarmed at its potential for exploitation, Keira makes a fateful decision to merge her company with Brandt’s. This strategic move not only grants Keira the much-needed funds for her own tech development, but also gives her access to Brandt’s powerful minuscule robots. In a bold move, she and her AI assistant, Elly, embed Keira’s trademark Moral Operating System in Brandt’s nanite SmartDust to ensure its ethical use.

Yet, Brandt's groundbreaking technology has been shrouded in secrecy for a reason. Despite his noble intentions to enhance life, others have darker plans. Corporate raiders and the military seek to weaponize Brandt’s nanites, putting everything Keira has worked for in jeopardy. Exposed to the darker side of humanity, she and Elly must now navigate a perilous path to use this newfound tech for good and prevent it from falling into the wrong hands…before it’s too late.

©2022 Lois and Ross Melbourne (P)2022 Lois and Ross Melbourne

whose morality is of greater concern - AI or humans

This book begs the question: whose morality is of greater concern - AI or humans?

I enjoyed this book and the science infused into the development of Elly the virtual assistant and everything that happens as humans try to steal the tech for their own gains. Keira, who created Elly, was a strong woman in STEM and I adored having her as the main character championing Elly and morality. Characters were well fleshed out and as someone who works at a medtech startup, I can say that many of the personalities felt very familiar.

The real science basis for much of the book made this story feel like something that could happen sooner rather than later and that gave the book a sense of reality that scifi stories usually lack. That being said, if you 'aren't very techy (like me), you can still follow the science well enough to understand the book.

Overall, this was a much more realistic-feeling book than I expected when I picked up a scifi story but I recommend it to anyone who loves scifi based in current science knowledge - or just enjoys a STEM smart, strong, female MC.

Thank you to NetGalley and Nonlinear Publishing, LLC for the opportunity to review this book ahead of publication. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.

Earnest and boring

I could only listen for a couple of hours before I gave up. It wasn’t entertaining, or exciting. I didn’t learn anything from it. The reader made all the women sound sweet and the men sound pompous, whatever the context.

Very enjoyable

The book suggests an interesting idea that AI will interact with the tangible world through nanobot swarms. Let’s hope these new beings will be moral!