Q&A: Lois Melbourne on Moral Code: “It’s critical for our future that we all play our part.”
The tech expert talks about the importance of the scrutiny of the tech community, morality, and female representation.
“Our household is tech talk nonstop. It was no stretch for a conversation to be about how cool a book about ethical AI would be.”
Dive in and discover the newest of technologies and its improvement of humanity in the science-fiction novel Moral Code. The book is the collaboration of Lois and Ross Melbourne, who infused the narrative with their backgrounds as tech executives. Moral Code explores how artificial intelligence can not only set moral boundaries—but also can revolutionize the future.
In the exclusive interview below, Lois Melbourne talks to Monster Complex about Moral Code. Among other things, she shares with us what inspired Moral Code, why the novel actually deals with several moral themes, how their tech backgrounds shaped the story, and the ways they expect the novel to impact readers.
Lois Melbourne spent eighteen years translating the uses, power and benefits of software, helping corporations around the world. Ross Melbourne, a lifelong innovator, is an entrepreneur, patent holder, and angel investor.
Together, Lois and Ross Melbourne built a global business. Now, they are telling the world about a future that is possible when technology is more ethical than mankind.
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ABOUT THE BOOK
Moral Code by Lois Melbourne and Ross Melbourne
Nonlinear Publishing, LLC
Category: Cyberpunk Science Fiction
Find Moral Code at Amazon (affiliate link)
“...a provocative science fiction novel featuring the union of two unrivaled, intelligent technologies.”—Foreword Clarion Reviews
What would you do?
Keira’s entire reputation is built upon the development of ethical computing. Her AI, Elly, is the testbed and best example of using her Moral Operating System. Her absolute dedication to improving kid’s lives could now put all she’s worked for at risk.
Her top two priorities yield dangerous consequences, if she fails. Her new boss’ nanites must be restrained with an upgrade to her MoralOS. The abusers she’s eavesdropping on while using that same SmartDust must be stopped.
Keira thought she and Elly, with her ethical framework, could keep everything under control. Against conventional wisdom, it’s not the AI’s moral decision making that’s the problem. It’s the people.
Q&A: Lois Melbourne on Moral Code
Q: MORAL CODE grapples with AI, which is such a timely topic right now for a science fiction drama. What inspired you to wrestle with this right now? (Were there items from the news, elements from personal experience, or were you inspired by other stories or discussions of this stuff?)
Our household is tech talk nonstop, with my husband, Ross and me having founded a software company in the 90’s, Ross now launching an AI and robotics firm and our son following his dad’s example into the world of software development.
It was no stretch for a Sunday morning conversation to be about how cool a book about ethical AI would be. We quickly agreed that the most ethical focus we could embed into an AI would be the mission of protecting kids.
The nano technology in MORAL CODE was inspired by work in current research. In fact it was difficult to stay ahead of the innovations in several areas of the tech I wrote about. Leaps forward in various tech would be announced and I’d have to do a rewrite to include the uses of the tech as a given, not as a future maybe.
Q: The book actually deals with a number of themes—including morality, women in tech, and the scrutiny of the tech community. How much of these were you working through your own feelings on these topics? How much was it just adding more drama to the novel?
One glaring piece of fiction in the book is the lack of gender discrimination in the tech field. That is a different battle for another book. The morality of fighting child abuse, bullying, and trafficking is very important to me.
In fact, all the proceeds from the sales of MORAL CODE go to organizations combating these issues. We have to break the generational cycle of these abuses if we ever want to live in peace in our communities, both local and global.
Q: How did your backgrounds as tech executives shape how you approached the story?
There were two very distinct principals that developed early as we collaborated on the story. I wrote the novel and refused to live in a dystopian mindset. Ross is the technology visionary for the story and the innovations had to be probable or doable, based on the trajectory of research and development in the various areas.
He taught me about a lot of tech that make up the backstory for the technology included in the story. Similar to a lot of character backstories, not all of it belongs in the manuscript, but it’s real.
Our collaboration mirrored our work in our former software company. I translated the features and functions he imagined into the stories for our customers to understand how powerfully the tools could impact their worlds. Then it was for corporations, in MORAL CODE its about societal impacts.
Q: How do you expect the novel to impact the people who read it?
For those not versed in AI, they’ll likely absorb the training “growth” process of an AI. I hope it inspires people to understand AI’s ability to be a force for good and powerful change, if we make the effort to develop them with these frameworks. It s not all TERMINATOR and ex-MACHINA.
People should also face the reality of child abuse, neglect, and trafficking in our own backyards; while considering the things we can do each day to change the trajectory for children. It’s critical for our future that we all play our part.
Q: What are the best ways for readers to connect with you and keep up with author updates?
My author website is LoisMelbourne.com
MORAL CODE’s website is MoralCodeTheBook.com
This website includes a chatbot of Elly, my AI character. You can chat with Elly about the book from the Contact page on that site.
My author Facebook page is Facebook.com/LoisMelbourne.Author
I’m also on Goodreads, tracking my reads and answering questions asked by readers.
Related links online
Author Interview with Lois Melbourne (Hasty Book List)
AGL 362: Moral Code with Lois Melbourne (A Geek Leader Podcast)
Interview with Lois and Ross Melbourne, authors of Moral Code (Speculative Fiction Showcase)
Q&A with Lois Melbourne (Book Q&As with Deborah Kalb)
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