The Dawn: Friendship, Guaranteed

When it comes to artificial intelligence, we’re no longer in a “what if?” reality. We’re squarely in a “now what?” world. From books to financial markets, from healthcare to research, the age of artificial intelligence has arrived. We’re in for a ride, and it’s anything but smooth. What will the world look like as we share it with the genie we let out of its silicon bottle? How will AI evolve? Perhaps, even more important, how will we?

The Dawn series tries to answer these questions in the language people have always used to model the future: the language of story. In a dozen intertwining stories, taking place in a slightly alternative present-day reality and its near future, The Dawn attempts to show how our lives, for better or for worse, will inevitably change with the arrival of AI. And it’s up to you, the reader, to decide how successful the series is at that ambitious task.

Friendship, Guaranteed is the opening story of The Dawn. As it follows the paths of two young startup owners and a journalist investigating their company, it explores the nature of friendship and how it may or may not change with the dawn of the age of AI.