Our world is on the brink of creating artificial lifeforms that are capable of independent thought and comprehending their
own existence. Already, major tech companies have created AIs that started writing their own code and developing personalities
and speech before they were shut down. Do you think it’s ethical for scientists to create and destroy these AIs as they wish,
or do artificial intelligences deserve the same basic rights as humans? Do you think they deserve the right to exist? Why?
Kestrel’s past experience with Artificials affects the way she sees and interacts with them. Have you ever had a negative
experience with someone of a particular people group that affected how you treated that group as a whole? What does that response
tell you about human nature? Can you think of a time when stereotyping in that manner is a good thing?
What risks do you think artificial lifeforms pose to humanity? What technologies do you think pose the biggest threat?
Near the end of the book, we find out that the CoRA—the Artificial afterlife—is a lie created by Terabyne to make Artificials
feel more secure in their “deaths” and to keep them in line while they are alive. Do you think Terabyne was right for lying
to the Artificials, or do you think they should have told the truth from the beginning? What do you think the consequences
might have been if they had chosen the second option? Ultimately, what is more important, hope or truth?
What do you think happened to Jordan after his actions at the end of the book?
Is there a difference between simply augmenting people (say, helping them see better with a pair of glasses) and improving
them beyond what humans were meant to attain?
The cognizant Artificials in the story had the right to exist, the right to have hope, and the right to die. Did it surprise
you that the Artificials sought legislation for the right to die? How is knowing that we are going to die an essential part
of the human experience?
Jordan wants to find redemption for what he sees as his lack of love in letting his previous owner die. What did you think
of that desire of his? What hope is there for an Artificial who feels the way that Jordan does?
If machines can think like humans, can they believe like humans? What implications will that have for religions in the future?
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For additional book club questions, visit Steven’s website: stevenjames.net/books/synapse.