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Colossus

Colossus Trilogy Series, Book 1

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Colossus

By: D. F. Jones
Narrated by: P.J. Ochlan
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About this listen

Charles Forbin has dedicated the last 10 years of his life to the construction of his own supercomputer, Colossus, rejecting romantic and social endeavors in order to create the United States' very first Artificially Intelligent defense system.

Colossus is a supercomputer capable of taking in and analyzing data rapidly, allowing it to make real-time decisions about the nation's defense.

But Colossus soon exceeds even Forbin's calculated expectations, learning to think independently of the Colossus Programming Office, processing data over 100 times faster than Forbin and his team had originally anticipated.

The President hands off full control of the nation's missiles and other defense protocols to Colossus and makes the announcement to the world that he has ensured peace.

However, the USSR quickly announces that it too has a supercomputer, Guardian, with capabilities similar to that of Colossus.

Forbin is concerned when Colossus asks - asks - to communicate with Guardian.

The computer he built shouldn't be able to ask at all.

©1966 D. F. Jones (P)2017 Tantor Adventure Science Fiction Technothrillers Thriller & Suspense Fiction Thriller Technology
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And interesting listen that shows it's age. Not only have computers made much greater leaps in some areas (and less in others) than are imagined here, the most stunning thing for me was the way women were treated and depicted, something which mercifully has changed a great deal (although some might say not enough) over the intervening decades.

Still worth a listen. I'd love to know if this Frankenstein prediction of the two machines controlling humanity and linking up was the first, in which case it has inspired many a variant, all the way up to Skynet and the Terminator.

How things change (thankfully)

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Very enjoyable and engaging. A few tiny plot holes, but nothing that couldn’t be patched with a healthy suspension of disbelief. Ochlan is a great narrator—he brings the characters to life subtly, without showboating. Can’t believe I waited all my life to read this. Classic sci-fi with tension, brains, and just the right dose of “oh shit.

Written 60 years ago - and here we are.

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Probably best to stick with the movie for this first episode. Narrator a bit robotic, but it's ok though.

Felt better in reading, narrator value bit flat.

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As the title of my review says, it takes some time to get into the story. Once you do it is well worth it.

Takes a while to get into but worth it

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I needed to read this because of the current concerns about AI. I'd seen the film and read the paperback and wondered how the audio would sound. I'm an author myself and have written about good and bad aspects of AI in my own Federation and Hubris Effect novels. The former the good and the latter, an idea how it could lead to disaster.

The book is of its time. The protagonist is a pipe-smoking, whisky-swilling mathematician and his sidekick smokes cigars continually. They do this all the time in offices, in computer rooms, in the Oval Office. In the White House we encounter a president who shouts at everything and everyone.

However, all that aside, the story is a chilling view of what the world could be facing in just a few years, if Anthropic fail to constrain the military's desire to remove all controls from AI.

You MUST read this book. The sequels do not live up to the original.

Absolute must-read for those worried about AI

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