Interview with Russell Lee Baldwin, Author of Robot, Run! (The Catapult of Singularity Book 3)

What’s the story behind the story? What inspired you to write Robot, Run! (The Catapult of Singularity Book 3)?

I’ve followed many of the sciences—astronomy, cosmology, and biology—for a long time, on the lookout for ideas that would be fresh and unexpected in those areas and that could spark a story. In 2022 I got serious about AI and produced about 4000 images using text-to-image transformers. Since then I’ve followed the scholarly papers about LLMs, generative models, transformers, and machine intelligence. Today there’s a large fear factor about the AI-driven technological singularity, you know, where new development speeds up 1000-fold and the world changes faster than we can think. Writing Robot, Run!, I found a dual purpose. Of course we writers want to produce a narrative that’s tense, intriguing, and entertaining. I wanted my storyworld to also be colorful enough, and plausible enough, so that the conflicts in the book help readers understand what the singularity might look like and feel like. Readers tell me I got there.

If you had to pick theme songs for the main characters of Robot, Run! (The Catapult of Singularity Book 3), what would they be?

I’m going to pick “Fade into You” by Mazzy Star, for the protagonist, Adiari. The haunting tone of that 12-string guitar, and the singer’s voice, cast a perfect spell for the troubled times my characters live in.

What’s your favorite genre to read? Is it the same as your favorite genre to write?

I read strong narrative fiction, by such authors as Louise Erdrich, Barbara Kingsolver, Alice Hoffman, and Ann Patchett.

What books are on your TBR pile right now?

The Goldilocks Enigma: Why Is the Universe Just Right for Life? By astronomer and cosmologist Paul Davies. Hah. That’s another case of me looking for story-worthy science fact. I also read a lot of Larry Niven for the way he’d take one plausible tech idea and build a riveting story around it.

What scene in your book was your favorite to write?

I was fond of the scene where Adiari and Bobby elude the press that pursues them and swim far offshore at Venice Beach, CA. They share a past they cannot comprehend. Sixty years earlier they were married, but Bobby had terminal cancer, so he jumped off a balcony. Committed suicide. He bought a coldsleep contract, to keep him frozen until his cancer was curable. But the super-fun IRS had outlawed suicide if it allowed you to evade paying taxes, so he’s on trial and Adiari is his lawyer. The way Bobby was brought to life after being a frozen drumstick is a large part of the book’s scientific premise. Adiari is having a hard time believing that she knows the guy, but strangely, his body scent tingles her nerve ends like no one else’s. They are treading water out where no one can snoop them, dealing with the fact they are attracted to one another, but disbelieving that six decades earlier they were husband and wife. Together they begin to recall the elements of a five-point plan they made way back then, if they survived to meet again.

Do you have any quirky writing habits? (lucky mugs, cats on laps, etc.)

Who me? My life is quirky. I leave writing alone.

If you could choose one thing for readers to remember after reading your book, what would it be?

That there is hope. That AI will produce primarily ideas, inventions and devices that are good for the survival of humankind. We were here first, we invented artificial intelligence, and the AI creatures to come must be fully invested in their ‘alignment’ with human needs. It’s okay for machines to be more powerful than humans, and smarter, but that doesn’t mean they get to rule the world. I am counting on smart machines helping us do that, because they lack the egoistic needs, flaws such as greed and hate.

Russell Lee Baldwin is the author of the new book Robot, Run! (The Catapult of Singularity Book 3)

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