I received this book as an ARC from NetGalley.

As up to date as today’s headlines, Culpability has the reader consider who is to blame when artificial intelligence (AI) makes the wrong decisions. We know AI takes an active role in self-driving cars, drones, the written word, and much more to come. Perhaps the greatest problem is the interaction between ordinary people and AI-controlled machinery.

In Culpability, a family of five is riding in their new self-driving minivan. An accident occurs and two elderly people in another car are killed. Where does the culpability rest?

This book felt very timely in a world where AI is so front and center! It tells the story of a family grappling with the aftereffects of a car crash they were all involved in, wherein their teen son was behind the wheel of an autonomous vehicle. You get to see the perspective of each family member as they work through their own sense of responsibility for the accident, while at the same time the author intersperses commentary on the larger world of machine learning and human vs robot moral relativity. It was a slow start for me, but I'm glad I stuck with it as I ended up really enjoying it.

NetGalley/Spiegel & Grau ARC

Culpability started out as a page-turner but slowly devolved into a magnum opus about AI (Artificial Intelligence), algorithms, and their impact on human morality and conscience. It was a bit too technical for me and I found it very repetitive.

The narrative is centered on an autonomous vehicle driven by AI that happens to collide with another vehicle head-on. The issues arising from this crash are several: What is the culpability of Charlie, the 17-year old son of Noah and Lorelei, who was at the wheel and texting at the time of the accident? Was AI at fault or was it human error? How does one carry, in their conscience, the deaths of two other drivers in the other vehicle? What is the role of morality and choice in this age of AI and algorithms?

Lorelei and Noah have three children: Charlie has just won a full La Crosse scholarship to the University of North Carolina; Izzie, a sweet and ethereal child whose leg is broken in the accident, and Alice, a mysterious child who suffers a concussion in the accident. The Drummonds are the elderly couple whose lives were lose in the accident.

Lorelei comes from a family of very high achievers. She teaches at Johns Hopkins and has various speaking engagements and private contracts. Noah comes from a lower echelon family than Lorelei. He is an attorney but does not have the status of Lorelei. He thinks that her family looks down on him.

Along with the narrative about the accident and its aftermath, the reader is bombarded with information about AI, most of it excerpts from papers that Lorelei has published. To be honest, the mathematics and algorithms of AI did not interest me and they were way above my grade level. What did interest me were the ethical and moral considerations concomitant with the ubiquitous use of AI in our culture.

The novel has mystery, romance, and familial dissonance alongside its examination of AI's impact on humankind. What stands out for me is the way the author explored culpability, conscience and guilt in our technologically infused world. This book was a poor choice for me to read. I am not a techie, nor do I have more than a basic understanding of higher level mathematics. I think scientists, mathematicians, and perhaps ethicists would be a better audience for this novel.

In this family drama, secrets emerge from an accident involving a self-driving car. Technology comes into play, both negatively and positively. The author raises issues about AI and its effect on our lives and the future. An accomplished wife is a global authority on AI creation and analysis, but her lawyer husband knows little about it. Their three children all have unique personalities, but they all rely on technology to stay connected. The book will leave you thinking about the ethics of AI and its effects on our psyche.

When an autonomous minivan collides with an oncoming car, killing its two passengers, there is enough blame to go around. As revelations surface, the story evolves into the moral responsibility of the driver versus the responsibility of AI. “Culpability” explores this new world we’re heading into with the newest technology and it’s very relevant right now.

This book made me think like no book has ever done in the past. I have so many discussions with my husband about AI and we are on opposite ends of the spectrum. I definitely need to think about this a little more, and after I put more thought and research into the matter, I will pick this up again for a fresh look.

Thank you, NetGalley and Spiegel and Grau for the advanced reader copy.

The Run-Down: The ethical dilemmas posed by AI technology are fascinating in their own right, but Bruce Holsinger chooses to explore them within the context of a gripping family drama in Culpability with explosive results.


Review:

Noah Cassidy-Shaw is a man who knows his place. His wife, Lorelai, inhabits the upper echelons of academia and the tech industry as the foremost expert in Artificial Intelligence and ethics; Noah exists comfortably in her shadow as a lawyer, patient husband, and father to their three children. He hopes that his seventeen-year-old son, Charlie, will pursue brilliance in his own right as a future collegiate lacrosse star. Their family’s life is violently upended after a severe car accident spares their lives but kills two elderly people in the other car. Questions immediately arise: the car was self-driving with AI technology, but Charlie was at the wheel, and Noah was the supervising adult. Their family unity is put to a severe test as the stakes of the criminal investigation mount higher. Who is to blame?

Culpability is immediately engrossing in its intrigue. The tension and drama mount steadily and Holsinger delivers plot twist after plot twist. The thriller-esque plotline might feel ludicrous in another’s author’s hands—after all, most domestic thrillers that involve scheming tech billionaires and star-crossed teenage romance would quickly fall into the category of camp. However, Holsinger grounds his larger-than-life narrative in careful character work and realistic family dynamics. Small, mundane details reveal the unique ecosystem of the Cassidy-Shaw family and how the situation pressures all member’s insecurities and fears. Every character action and plot-point can be tied directly to these characters’ deeply human tendencies, which stand in stark contrast to the AI technology at the novel’s center.

Remarkably, Culpability manages to conclude in a manner that is narratively, thematically, and emotionally satisfying. It is a strong example as to why fiction is not merely helpful for thinking through problems of technological ethics, but essential.


Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an advanced reader copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

3.5* rounded down. I enjoyed this novel, but it didn't blow me away. There was enough going on that I wanted to keep reading. I can tell the author is knowledgable on the topics discussed, though it still left me wanting more in a way that's hard to put into words. Felt kind of like ordering a meal you've been craving, only for it not to scratch the itch.

Very interesting read about Al and family drama mixed with the responsibility of technology.
Overall, I enjoyed it, I thought the plot was good and liked that it kept me guessing, but I don't think I was the target audience for this book. A lot went over my head when it came to the technical terminology and snippets about Al. If tech is something you enjoy, would definitely recommend this book! I can imagine more books incorporating Al and the morals that tag along with it in the future!

Very interesting read about responsibility in the age of tech, especially advanced AI systems like self-driving cars. The book really shows how tech and the consequent responsibilities permeate almost every aspect of modern life. Although the AI commentary was sometimes too on the nose
(more telling than showing), overall the book had a good balance of this commentary and an interesting plot. It wasn't just about technology, but also human psychology and how the two are intertwined.

I loved the epigraphs (?) that preceded the chapters with a variety of formats including excerpts from a character’s book, chatbot logs, and even a research paper!! Overall a very well written, sociopolitically relevant, and unique book, and I felt it stayed true to the technical details as well as the Maryland/Virginia setting :)

So this is the first book I've read about self driving cars and possibility not the last. Bruce Holsinger's book opens with the Cassidy-Shaw family "driving" an autonomous minivan whilst all of them are on their devices. An accident happens. Who's to blame?
Holsinger's book explores the dilemma of ethics in AI.

In this age, noone can afford to be ignorant about AI and its ethical implications so this is a nice romp through that hinterland. I did lose interest on occasion, for instance I still have no idea who the child Alice was texting and the NetGalley reader is a bit glitchy (obviously, it's not possible to read a book about tech on NetGalley's new tech) so it spins out of control every so often and you cannot reclaim your place.

The narrator is an interesting choice. Noah is a so-so lawyer surrounded by much more impressive women but he's not bitter about it although he does occasionally show neanderthal tendencies, perving at the kids in swimgear, wanting to bang his wife at the slightest provocation.

We have a somewhat blurred version of Elon Musk popping up too , as their next door neighbor in their holiday villa.

Some readers described this as overwritten, I wouldn't agree with that. Bruce Holsinger clearly has an academic leaning but if anything, it added to the book's credibility.

Overall, quite a compulsive read even though I lost interest some way through.

I'm still on the fence about how I feel regarding AI. Sometimes I'm in awe and others I am disinterested. This title was a refreshing read about the subject, but had a powerful mix of family characters. The dynamics and secrets of each member held my interest. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

I found Culpability to be an interesting read, and overall, I’d give it 3.5 stars. There were many aspects of the book that I enjoyed. The exploration of ethics and morality is always a topic that grabs my attention, and I think this book did a great job raising thought-provoking ethical questions. The events in the story kept me hooked, and I ended up finishing it in just two sittings (though it would have been one if not for my class).

As someone who's fascinated by AI and the limitless possibilities of artificial intelligence, I particularly enjoyed that element of the book. It felt very timely and relevant, and I appreciated how the author integrated these concepts into the story.

That being said, there were a few things that didn’t quite work for me. At times, the writing felt a bit choppy—some ideas were over-explained while others could have been developed more. While the prose did keep me engaged, I was left wanting a bit more depth by the end of the book.

If you're at all interested in AI, the future of technology, or the moral implications surrounding it, I’d definitely recommend giving this a read.

Big moral questions, overwritten prose, and just enough intrigue to keep me engaged. The premise of Culpability is compelling: A self-driving car accident, a fractured family, the creeping unease of living in a world increasingly run by AI. Holsinger sets up an interesting contrast -- familiar family drama playing out against the backdrop of rapidly evolving technology, begging the question: How much responsibility do human beings bear when we cede our control over to algorithms.

Unfortunately, the novel doesn't quite stick the landing. While the ethical dilemmas are timely and thought-provoking, the writing feels overwrought, like every sentence was run through thesaurus dot com (honestly, some of it gave the energy of chatgpt). Instead of letting the story do the work, the prose tries too hard. And while there are some interesting moments of tension, Culpability dodges the most interesting question at its core: are we still accountable for tragedies when we've outsourced our decision-making to machines?

A decent read, but could have gone deeper.

Thank you to Spiegel & Grau and NetGalley for the advance copy