S. R. Brandt

I was given the opportunity to read this book in return for an honest review. I enjoy a good AI story and once I started reading this one, I couldn’t put it down. I felt connected to both the AI and biological characters. There were a few delightful twists and turns and there were several parts that brought tears to my eyes. If you like Sci-fi and The Velveteen Rabbit, I highly recommend you read this novella. Readers who liked the Westworld TV series or The Kingdom by Jess Rothenberg would likely enjoy this and vice versa.

The Emotional Turing Test reminds me of my favorite Aasimov Robot stories. It's short and self-contained, but it packs a punch. The story revolves around a reporter who visits a very detailed, artificial fantasy theme park populated by robots. The robots are not self-aware. But over the course of the story, Brandt compellingly makes the case that this does not matter. The robots are human-like in all the ways that matter. Overall, I found the story to be emotionally compelling and thought provoking.