FOR
IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sudbury
Author Sounds a Warning About Coming Technology
Enhancing
our brainpower with computers—is it a Pandora’s Box we don’t dare open?
Sudbury author Scott
Overton is offering a cautionary story with his new science fiction novel Augment
Nation. The augments referred to in the title are brain-computer
interfaces (BCI)—small computerized devices directly linking our brains to powerful
processors and even the internet. That’s the direction Overton sees consumer
technology going within the next two decades, and we’ll need to be prepared.
Human brains with direct
access to the internet. What could go wrong?
Since the age of fourteen
Damon Leiter has had a brain-computer interface implanted beneath his skull to
correct a neurological disorder. As a teenager, it branded him as an outcast—as
an adult it endows him with extraordinary abilities. He may represent the next
step in human evolution. When computerized brain augments replace smartphones
as the must-have status item, mega-corporations and governments conspire
together and marketing becomes mind control. Damon is uniquely equipped to lead
a worldwide resistance, but the fight may cost him everything.
“The promise of instant
access to lots of computing power and all the resources of the internet with
just a thought is incredible,” says Overton. “But the potential risks are
staggering too. Computers can be hacked, phones can be hacked…websites,
Facebook pages, email accounts; all of them are vulnerable to being taken over
or tampered with for malicious purposes.”
But Overton points out
that the hazards don’t just involve criminals or vandals. There are hundreds of
legitimate players who’d love to have more access to our thinking.
“We already give
marketers and companies way too much access to our personal information and our
private lives, usually in return for a little extra convenience, reward points
we may never cash in, or shiny baubles we don’t need. Who will be able to
resist tantalizing offers when an internet connection is right in our head?”
And while Overton thinks
conspiracy theories about micro-devices that track us and affect our thoughts
are pure fantasy for now, that might not always be the case. Brain-computer
interfaces might be just too tempting for unscrupulous political parties or
multi-nationals with a lust for power. “I’m sure most of us can think of
politicians who would sell their souls for that kind of direct influence over
citizens,” he says. “We will have to decide—and decide very soon—whether or not
we’re willing to open that door.”
The novel is set only
twenty years from now. Is brain-computer interface technology really that
advanced?
“Elon Musk’s Neuralink
company will soon start human trials to help people who are paralysed or have
other neuro-muscular disabilities control electronic devices and robotics with
their thoughts. But a company called Synchron is already in human
trials,” Overton says.
A well-known radio
morning host for more than 30 years in Ontario, Canada, Overton has built a
second career as an author. His radio-themed debut novel Dead Air was
shortlisted for a Northern Lit Award in 2012, and his science fiction/thriller
novels The Primus Labyrinth, Naïda, and The Dispossession of
Dylan Knox have been well-received too, with readers most often comparing
them to the work of Michael Crichton. The writer considered the “dean of
Canadian science fiction”, Robert J. Sawyer, (winner of every major science
fiction award and a member of both the Order of Canada and the Order of
Ontario) says of Augment Nation:
“Scott
Overton is a terrific writer and his vision of tomorrow is both realistic and
frightening. Read this book!”
--
Robert J. Sawyer, Hugo Award-winning author
Augment Nation and all of Overton’s books are available online in
eBook and print (find them at your favorite outlet using these universal book
links: https://books2read.com/Augment-Nation or https://books2read.com/ScottOverton ). If they are not in stock at your favorite
local store, they can be ordered. You can also request most via your local
library.
MORE INFORMATION
www.scottoverton.ca
Facebook https://www.facebook.com/ScottOverton.author
Twitter @SFtruenorth
Goodreads www.goodreads.com/ScottOverton
To request additional review copies or an
interview with Scott, please contact Mickey Mikkelson at Creative Edge
Publicity: mickey.creativeedge@gmail.com / 403.464.6925.
We look forward to the coverage!
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