THE
BABEL APOCALYPSE AUDIOBOOK
by
Vyvyan Evans
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GENRE:
Science Fiction
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
BLURB:
Language
is no longer learned, but streamed to neural implants regulated by
lang-laws. Those who can’t afford monthly language streaming
services are feral, living on the fringes of society. Big tech
corporations control language, the world’s most valuable commodity.
But
when a massive cyberattack causes a global language outage,
catastrophe looms.
Europol
detective Emyr Morgan is assigned to the case. Suspect number one is
Professor Ebba Black, the last native speaker of language in the
automated world, and leader of the Babel cyberterrorist organization.
But Emyr soon learns that in a world of corporate power, where those
who control language control everything, all is not as it seems.
After all, if the mysterious Ebba Black is to blame, why is the
Russian Federation being framed for an outage it claims no
responsibility for? And why is Ebba now a target for assassination?
As
he and Ebba collide, Emyr faces an existential dilemma between
loyalty and betrayal, when everything he once believed in is called
into question. To prevent the imminent collapse of civilization and a
deadly war between the great federations, he must figure out friend
from foe—his life depends on it.
And
with the odds stacked against him, he must find a way to stop the
Babel Apocalypse.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Excerpt
As
I was about to glance back at the voices, a light flickered in my
peripheral vision, drawing my gaze upward to the night sky. A soft
white glow, high up in the dark. At first it was indistinguishable
from the airway lights. But it persisted, the size of a small disk at
first, before shifting to red-orange, getting larger. At that point I
realized it definitely couldn’t be a hover car. This was farther
up, probably low Earth orbit, which explained the initial white. But
the shift in coloration—that meant a detonation, producing nitrogen
dioxide, which turned deep orange when mixed with air. A gaseous
cloud has reached the atmosphere, I thought. I was witnessing a
chemical explosion in space large enough to be visible to the naked
eye. But what was exploding?
As
I continued looking up, the orange grew in intensity until it flared
across the skyline, illuminating the entire landscape around me with
an eerie red-orange. It was only then that I became aware of the
newly hushed silence of the drunken revelers nearby. And the
silhouettes of other people too, who had also stopped and peppered
the pedestrian corridor. We were all now strange red creatures,
watching transfixed in rapt silence as the night sky was on fire. And
just as suddenly as it had appeared, it was gone; the orange light
faded back into a deep well of pitch black.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Guest
post by Vyvyan Evans, February 29 2024, at Readers Roost
The
context against which The
Babel Apocalypse is
set is the World’s Fourth Industrial Revolution, or 4IR.
We
currently stand on the brink of a new technological revolution,
involving connectivity, smart AI and the Internet of Things. This
will lead to a transformation in scale and complexity that humans
have not witnessed previously. We don’t yet know how things will
play out, but we can make some pretty educated guesses—which is the
point of the novel, especially in terms of the future of language and
communication.
First,
the novel takes the advent of implantable neuroprosthetic technology,
and imagines the very real possibility that within the next 100
years, the hallmark of what it is to be human—language—an ability
that our species alone possesses, will be replaced by AI. Such a
development would call into question what it means to be human.
Second,
The Babel Apocalypse explores the consequences of humans “giving
up” on language, offloading language learning, allowing AI to take
over. The consequence of this, according to the novel, is that
language will become a commodity (like any other, such as movies,
music, and so on, that we currently stream on demand, for a fee),
controlled for and by big tech, in service of shareholders and
corporate interests.
The
novel then predicts that this leads to a slippery slope of issues
ranging from potential censorship, control of thought, and even,
through cyberterrorism, the prospect of an existential crisis for the
human race. This is manifested in several ways in the book, notably a
global language outage, which prevents large numbers of people from
being able to communicate.
Hence,
these two concerns, that underpin the book, call into question what
it means to be human, whether AI can and should be allowed to replace
previously fundamental aspects of the human experience, and points to
potential abuses of what we previously assumed to be a human
birth-right.
As
further context, it is worth pointing out that science fiction has a
track record of successfully predicting aspects of the future. For
instance, the work of Isaac Asimov, from 1940 onwards, successfully
predicted some aspects of the rise of AI and its inherent dangers for
humans, in terms of his Robot
series of books and stories. William Gibson, in his 1984 novel
Neuromancer,
coined the term “cyberspace” and predicted some of the issues and
dangers that would arise.
In
2015, a wide array of leading researchers, economists and even
captains of industry, warned, in an Open Letter and accompanying
report, against the new dangers of AI. This Open
Letter was
issued in response to new breakthroughs in AI that, without adequate
control, might pose short and long-term existential threats to
humans.
One
response to the existential threat posed by AI for humans, and
championed by Elon Musk (who incidentally was one of the signatories
of the 2015 letter), has been, through his leadership of Neuralink,
to develop neuroprosthetic technology that, ultimately, might allow
the human brain to become hybridized with AI. The rationale is that
by embracing AI, the new “transhuman” can stay one step ahead.
But
this is the very research trajectory that leads to the potentially
catastrophic prospect
of language becoming a commodity,
which is exactly what The
Babel Apocalypse
predicts.
AUTHOR
Bio and Links:
Dr.
Vyvyan Evans is a native of Chester, England. He holds a PhD in
linguistics from Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., and is a
Professor of Linguistics. He has published numerous acclaimed popular
science and technical books on language and linguistics. His popular
science essays and articles have appeared in numerous venues
including 'The Guardian', 'Psychology Today', 'New York Post', 'New
Scientist', 'Newsweek' and 'The New Republic'. His award-winning
writing focuses, in one way or another, on the nature of language and
mind, the impact of technology on language, and the future of
communication. His science fiction work explores the status of
language and digital communication technology as potential weapons of
mass destruction.
Book
website (including ‘Buy’ links): http://www.songs-of-the-sage.com
Author
website: https://www.vyvevans.net/
Youtube
channel: https://www.youtube.com/@vyvevans
Twitter:
https://twitter.com/VyvEvans
Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/Vyvyan.Evans.Author
Instagram:
https://www.instagram.com/nephilim_publishing/
~~~~~~~~~~~~~
GIVEAWAY
INFORMATION and RAFFLECOPTER CODE
The
author will award a copy of the audiobook to a randomly drawn winner.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
