Contemplative Inquiry

“We do the world no good when we throw up our hands and surrender to the moral frameworks of algorithms. AIs are not aliens from another world. They are things of our all-to-human creation. We in turn are their Pygmalions, responsible for their design, their function, and, yes, even their beauty.

…

“These new beings will only be as moral as we design them to be. Our morality will in turn be shaped by what we learn from them, and how we adapt accordingly

“Perhaps, in the near future, they might help us to be less  cruel to each other, more generous and kind. Some time they might teach new ways to be good.

“But that will be up to us, not them.

“Lorelei Shaw, Silicon Souls: On the Culpability of Artificial Minds” (1)

Lorelei Cassidy-Shaw is a fictional character in Bruce Holsinger’s novel Culpability. Expertly qualified in both engineering and philosophy, she is a highly regarded figure in the field of AI research, whilst also emotionally and mentally vulnerable.

Lorelei comes from a privileged and high achieving family and is married to Noah Cassidy. Noah, from a humbler background, has risen to be a corporate lawyer. They have three children: Charlie, who reaches his 18th birthday in the course of the book, and his younger sisters Alice and Izzy. They live in Bethesda, Maryland.

In the novel, Noah is the point of view character and Lorelei is the prime agent. Hence the reader is skilfully denied important information, particularly about Lorelei’s work, for much of the book.

The unfolding story acts as an ethical inquiry into human responsibility in the age of AI. It also touches on the vast gulf in wealth and power between even the aspirational upper middle class and today’s tec billionaires. But mostly it’s about ethics and the human-AI interface.

On their way to a sporting event, their driverless minivan crashes,  injuring some family members and killing two people in another vehicle. No-one in the minivan has been looking at the road, including a still 17 year old Charlie at the wheel and his father beside him. On a scream from his sister Alice he makes the panicky evasive override that actually causes the accident. Eventually the AI system manufacturers rescue the family by taking the blame, closing down an awkward police investigation.

Other tests and dramas come up on a supposedly recuperative vacation at Chesapeake Bay, Virginia. The family has to heal its internal relationships and reconstitute itself on returning home towards the end of the book. Lorelei turns down a senior  job in the Pentagon’s AI operation (autonomous drones) and decides to write the ethics book Silicon Souls: On the Culpability of Artificial Minds, cited at times in Culpability.

I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in the issues it explores.

(1) Bruce Holsinger Culpability London: Europa Editions, 2025