Stacey Abrams Presents Coded Justice - A Thriller - AI Provides Coded Support to Veterans... Avery Keene Book 3

 

I need to determine one thing, Avery. Have I built Data, the lovable android, or HAL, the killer computer?

Abrams, Stacey. Coded Justice: A Thriller (Avery Keene Book 3) (p. 38). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group.

SHORTLISTED FOR THE NERO AWARD FOR BEST AMERICAN MYSTERY • AN NPR BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR • A prescient new thriller in the #1 New York Times bestselling Avery Keene series, by nationally renowned author and leader Stacey Abrams, Coded Justice follows Avery down a dark rabbit hole into the breathtaking—and dangerously evolving—world of AI in the medical industry.

Former Supreme Court clerk Avery Keene is back . . . trying to put the past behind her at a prestigious high-end law firm in Washington, D.C. Head down and focused on a new life, Avery is now working as an internal investigator when a high-profile client seeks her out. Camasca Enterprises has a big problem and a short runway. The tech company has developed a new integrated AI system poised to revolutionize the medical industry. To prove its potential, Camasca’s charismatic founder, retired Major Rafe Diaz, has picked a complicated target: delivering cutting-edge health care to his fellow veterans. The potential is staggering, but their prototype has been plagued by a series of disturbing anomalies—culminating in the mysterious death of a beloved Camasca engineer.

Avery and her colleagues, Jared, Ling, and Noah, are brought into the secretive company to investigate from the inside out. At the epicenter of a burgeoning, controversial industry, and with billions of dollars on the line, their task is simple: to determine whether Camasca’s technical troubles and rising body count reveal something sinister at work. In Coded Justice, Stacey Abrams’s storytelling prowess is on full display—a deft combination of riveting twists and vibrant characters set against the fascinating landscape of the capabilities of artificial intelligence . . . and the moral boundaries that govern it. Coded Justice is Abrams’s most entertaining novel to date.--Amazon

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If you haven't already read...Intro Discussion...

While I had announced a new nonfiction book about AI, having this novel pop up was a no-brainer for me to read first. There is no way around it. Fiction is so much more intriguing to read than nonfiction. Key for me, is that I learn much through the writings of thousands of writers while having an enjoyable break from reality. At any other time, I would consider this novel a SciFi right out of the X-Files of historical television... And, after checking with Gem about what was "reality" of AI, I learned that, in a significant way, what is happening right now in history was much more dangerous, in my opinion... 

As I read Abrams' novel, however, I was glad to have learned that what I recognized as AI from my years of being a Trekkie--a fan of all movies in any Star Trek series--was NOT what was happening right now. In fact, Gem projected that this could not possibly happen for decades... 

Still I found myself adding "horror" to the multi-genre book Stacey Abrams had written... Simply because people were dying... in a hospital clinic and later, outside the medical facility...

Setting the plot was a natural for this author. Those who met her through her political life which is very active, knows that she is an avid champion for those who are often ignored for one reason or another in our supposed democracy... Which has taken on major efforts to attack those very people... I've come to group it as all other than white male supremacists... together with corporate leaders who value power and whatever can be done to make them richer as the rest of us get poorer...

Latest News - This soldier who had a mental breakdown, is now under investigation by the present federal administration, for possible indictment... OMG, even mental illness is not to be tolerated...in...their war...

As a book reviewer, I've been asked to read a number of books written after the Vietnam War... Only one was able to write about what happened...but he wrote it for his brother... Perhaps because the veteran could not? War is not inevitable in my mind... Yet it continue to keep happening over and over and over... During many of those wars, there were also those who told of the horrors that occurred against troops, as well as those who died by visiting troops... Somehow many will attempt to not consider losses of the "supposed enemy..." No matter who they are... Even if they were those who fought for their own country...

Abrams hones in on those who are targeted because of being considered an enemy... Anybody different than those who fall outside of the "white male supremacist" group--unless they are rich... Many of us remember that anybody from a different race, culture, or sexual orientation often are targeted. But, because of their own cultural physical development, it was medically important that, if at all possible, past medical history would greatly improve how a specific individual might need to be treated based upon hereditary factors. This would be a major investment in data gathering that could one day result in each individual having medications designed specifically for the patient's bodily requirements...

Dr. (and Major) Rafe Diaz, CEO and founder of Camasca, has been an individual who had first-hand experience of not being able to gain medical care... But he was a fighter and became convinced that he could do something to ensure that those who had been traditionally ignored for one reason or another, did indeed deserve the kind of medical care that everybody should have... It was at a point when AI was now in full development and was well beyond those early days when speed and convenience and the novelty of it all was the latest "entertainment" and potential helpful tool to the many who needed assistance quickly. Especially when it involved needing medical assistance... 

As the book opens, we find a completely developed and functioning group who have gained government support and funds based upon Dr. Diaz's proposal. There was indeed a great need that could be provided if only what he was trying would work! All of the data had been gathered to begin. Appropriate levels of AI supporters had been developed and trained and tested... Now the company was ready to try for opening the company up for investors who could help expedite full development as well as expansion of facilities across the world...

Until the team leader of the systems staff was killed... All three of the team had been affected when a ventilation problem seemed to be the cause... The other two were now on leave from the trauma and physical damage they incurred...

Dr. Diaz was not only concerned about what had happened, but that he needed to ensure that as the time for public announcement came that there would be no reason for either the government or the public to question how exactly such an accident could have happened. And, could it really have been sabotage...

Avery Keene had been recommended to Dr. Diaz by a mutual friend who then shared with Avery that she would be contacted... But first, Keene's law firm would also have to be willing to have her accept this job of "internal investigator"--a role that she had never learned about during her law school days.

In essence, this title allowed for, say, a head of a corporation, to have a legal investigation occur--in this case an accident involving a death and multiple injuries through a ventilation problem... By choosing a lawyer to undergo an internal review of what actually could have happened, but still be covered under "attorney-client privilege" could bring about a broader investigation than the police would normally do, but without any type of outside influence or more importantly, disclosure. Interestingly, I could easily see the author also playing the lead in a movie based upon the book... Meaning, that if you've heard Abrams speaking on any issue, you can "hear" her speaking as Avery... I was impressed with this, my own assumption made just for fun..." For Avery speaks and thinks as we have seen the author do on many occasions...

Also Interestingly, was that the characters were not immediately identified racially, even though the book itself was to address the lack of cultural ramifications when people sought medical assistance... Readers do find sprinkled through the book that one character or another happened to be identified by race. But not as being relevant to their involvement defined in the book... Yet, racial bias was indeed part of the psychological component of the story. Again, well-done by the author.

Avery is involved with a former military man who has extensive systems expertise. The other two individuals who comprized her team were one other lawyer--the one who recommend Avery to lead the team. The other was also connected to Avery--her best friend--who was fortunately a medical doctor who would be very important during this evaluation of the medical world, especially related to the Hippocratic Oath... It was clear that Avery needed to trust the team to work with her...

Readers will find that the methodology of an investigation is standard to most mystery or thriller books. Only the characters driving the story is unusual, since AI is involved... And, indeed, got more complicated when a doctor in the clinic using Dr. Diaz' platform was found to have committed suicide, which led to even further questions...

This AI involvement was so deeply entrenched that Avery's team had to demand that they have total separation during the investigation. Why? Because all facilities were completely open to the AI component upon which the new platform for specialized single-patient support was based.

Avery's team was given a time limit by virtue of when the IPO--Initial Public Offering. The investigation was extremely complicated given the AI platform and the interaction of AI with all of the humans involved directly or indirectly. We learn more about the background as the team members interview all those who could have remotely been involved... Readers receive their wanted involvement in solving the murder as we move deeper into the book... A number of suspects were identified and we can begin to make assumptions of those bad guys who could be behind the death... Especially when Avery came just in time to see a similar and potential death scene occur...

There is no way to read this book except as a learning experience as we move forward having AI forced into our lives, especially for things such as medical support which affects each one of us in an extremely intimate manner. While I was satisfied and understood the ending of the book, I did not truly shake the awareness that we are now in the midst of a situation where we KNOW that this administration is forcing movement forward in the present AI format through extortion or by power-seekers who are working for their own benefit. Either way only means that we citizens must be watching ever more carefully...

As a reader, I must say that I would have enjoyed this fantastic book if only I trusted that it was an alternative futuristic history as opposed to how I see medical issues now being handled by this administration... Can you imagine walking into an emergency room, knowing that power-weavers behind the scenes are more in control than your doctor???

GABixlerReviews

“We’ve asked Kawak to understand bias and discrimination, and solve for it. We knew there’d be hiccups in eliminating prejudice in medicine, didn’t we?” In the field of artificial intelligence, one of the steepest challenges was training what was essentially a sophisticated computer system to act like a good human. Teaching people to match their behavior to their values was a task that had bedeviled theologians and ethicists. AI developers called the process alignment, a term of art that sounded better than catechism.

--Abrams, Stacey. Coded Justice: A Thriller (Avery Keene Book 3) (p. 4). Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group. Kindle Edition.