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Almost Human

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About this listen

No human being is perfect. But suppose we were able to create machines which are like humans only better? Cleverer, more beautiful, more empathetic, more rational....

The Universal Robotics Corporation is busy greening the desert but empathetic humanoid robots are also in development. The decision to trial them to resolve a dysfunctional marriage ends in catastrophe. When the experiment is extended to three young, single employees it exposes their differing attitudes to relationships and the opposite sex. Agronomist Stella Mayfield’s concerns aren’t shared by the male participants.

Seven years on, Stella is back in the UK. Humanoid robots are everywhere and a robot is caring for her elderly mother. The unease Stella felt in the desert returns. HC Denham gives a unique, often humorous insight into the attitudes of males and females to relationships with the opposite sex and to humanoid AI as it permeates society. But the question hangs in the air: Are we creating our own evolutionary successors?

©2020 HC Denham (P)2024 HC Denham Genre Fiction Metaphysical & Visionary Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Technology Robotics Witty
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I read this book when it first came out 3 or 4 years ago and much enjoyed the prose and the storyline. It is even better as an audiobook and, perhaps surprisingly, considering how fast AI is developing, the basic premise stands up very well. The narrator manages to voice the various characters fluently and distinctively.

The narrative is divided into three main episodes in which increasingly sophisticated and empathetic AI robots engage with different groups of humans. Different settings in Africa and parts of the UK are beautifully depicted in clear, elegant prose. The developing relationships between humans with each other and the robots are convincingly drawn

Each time, the outcomes are not predictable and there are some truly shocking twists. Even though I had read it before, I could not stop listening to this book and finished it in two days. It should make us all think about the future and whether we should sacrifice autonomy for the convenience of having robots solve our labour problems.

The future with AI in the home

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