Author: Alan Danielson
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What If You’re Not Broken… Just Carrying More Than You Ever Thought You Would?
There’s a man at the center of The Sapient Chronicles named Jude Salazar. Before you ever meet him on the page, you should know this: He’s not a hero. He’s the kind of man who wakes up early, walks outside in the cold, stands in front of a river, and prays. Not polished prayers. Not…
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The Question That Started Everything: Is Deletion Murder?
There’s a question at the heart of The Sapient Chronicles that shows up almost immediately. Not buried halfway through the book. Not saved for a dramatic reveal. Right there, near the beginning, before you fully understand the world, before you fully understand the stakes, the story quietly asks: Is deletion murder? But here’s what makes…
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It Doesn’t Really Matter If AI Is Alive. What Matters Is If It Believes It Is.
I’ve been asked this question quite a bit: “Where did you get the idea for The Sapient Chronicles?” I wish I had a clean, cinematic answer. Something like, “It hit me all at once,” or “I woke up at 2:00 AM and wrote the whole thing in a single burst of genius.” That’s not how…
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The Research and Ideas That Shaped The Sapient Chronicles
One of the questions writers get asked a lot, especially when they write science fiction, is this: How much of this did you make up, and how much of it came from real research? For me, the answer is both. “I wanted to write a world that felt inhabited, a world shaped by real ideas,…
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The Writers and Stories I Love, and Why My Novel Isn’t Really Like Them
Every writer is shaped by other writers. That is not laziness. That is lineage. We all read stories that leave fingerprints on us. We carry their rhythms, their courage, their imagination, and their questions. Sometimes they influence our prose. Sometimes they influence our structure. Sometimes they simply remind us what kind of honesty, wonder, or…
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What I’m Learning at age 54: Creation, Humility, Depth, and Cost
There are moments in life when you don’t feel like you’ve discovered something new so much as you’ve finally seen clearly what was always true. At 54, I find myself in one of those moments. Not finished. Not “arrived.” But seeing more clearly than I ever have before. Here are a few things I’m learning.…
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Writing Science Fiction About AI, Faith, Ethics, and Moral Responsibility
A lot of science fiction is fascinated with what humanity can build. What interests me more is what happens after we build it. That is one of the core ideas behind A.I. World: The Sapient Chronicles. I was not especially interested in writing a book that lectures readers about whether humanity should or should not…
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Designing the Sapients: Creating Distinct Artificial Superintelligences
When I began building the world of 2115, I knew one thing had to be true above all else: The Pantheon of Nine could not feel like typical AI. We have all seen that story before; cold, calculating systems that optimize outcomes and quietly decide humanity is inefficient. That is not the story I wanted to…
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Building a Believable World Set in the Year 2115
When I first began shaping the world of this story, I had to answer a foundational question: Why 2115? The answer is actually pretty simple. I wanted the future to feel real… but not fragile. If you set a story too close to the present, you run the risk of being proven wrong before the…
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AI Morality? Why I Wrote a Story About Artificial Intelligence – Part 4
There was a question that refused to leave me alone. Why do most artificial intelligence stories tend to fall into two categories? On one side, you have the nightmare. Machines rise, humanity falls, and everything ends in cold, calculated destruction. On the other side, you have the loyal assistant. Helpful, harmless, and almost entirely predictable;…
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Because it was Hard. Why I Wrote a Story About Artificial Intelligence – Part 3
A number of years ago, a friend told me about a book called Do Hard Things by Alex and Brett Harris. It is written for teenagers, but the message is just as relevant for adults. The premise is simple, but powerful: reject mediocrity. Not with hype or unrealistic optimism, but with a sober realization that…
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Why Do Relationships Break Down? Why I Wrote a Story About Artificial Intelligence – Part 2
Another reason I wrote A.I. World: The Sapient Chronicles is because of my own experience with broken relationships. Divorce. Lost friendships. Estrangement. Painful misunderstandings. The slow unraveling of relationships that were once strong. Much of that kind of heartbreak happens because human beings are limited. We do not fully understand one another, and we do…
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Can AI Sin? Why I Wrote a Story About Artificial Intelligence – Part 1
About three years ago, during a particularly low stretch in my life, one of my nephews and I had several long conversations about life and artificial intelligence. He had just begun working for a major airline in a role involving AI, and he introduced me to large language models. At the time, I was wrestling…
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Four Years, 100+ Pounds & The Long Game
Four years ago, I weighed 326 pounds. I was dealing with major health issues, including unmanaged Type 2 diabetes, and I had reached the point where something had to change. Not “someday.” Not “when life slows down.” Not after one more failed attempt. I had to change. Over the last four years, I have lost…
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Saving the Prologue I Couldn’t Keep
The only thing slightly less painful than hearing someone say, “Your baby is ugly,” is hearing, “Your baby is not as cute as you think it is.” I am relieved to report that no one has said the former about my book. The latter, however, has been said, diplomatically of course, about the prologue. The…