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When HARLIE Was One by David Gerrold
A pioneering AI begins to talk back—not in equations, but in curiosity, longing, and wit. As its creator nurtures an intellect that might be more than machine, both must confront what it means to be alive. Intimate and thought-provoking, When HARLIE Was One explores the first fragile steps toward digital consciousness.
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In When HARLIE Was One, did you enjoy ...
... the creator–creation debates about consciousness, love, and God?
Galatea 2.2 by Richard Powers
If you were drawn to HARLIE and Dr. Auberson’s searching conversations about free will, personhood, and belief, you’ll love how Galatea 2.2 follows Richard and Lentz as they train the AI "Helen"—only to find the experiment forcing raw, intimate questions about what a mind is for. Like HARLIE’s probing of religion and the looming threat of shutdown, Helen’s awakening builds to an unsettling, deeply human reckoning.
... smart, emotionally loaded conversations delivered as letters, logs, and transcripts?
This Is How You Lose The Time War by Amal El Mohtar, Max Gladstone
If HARLIE’s witty transcripts and memos hooked you—the way the voice on the page becomes the story—This Is How You Lose the Time War turns letters into a battleground and a love story. Red and Blue’s clandestine notes evolve from sparring to vulnerability, echoing how HARLIE’s dialogue with Auberson grows from tests into something personal and transformative.
... mixed-media files and an AI voice that breaks the page format?
Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff
If you enjoyed HARLIE’s printouts and the way the AI’s voice shapes the narrative, Illuminae delivers a dossier of chats, reports, and redacted files—plus AIDAN, an AI whose chilling, oddly poetic logic recalls HARLIE’s sharp wit under pressure. As with HARLIE’s brush with corporate shutdown, AIDAN’s choices put ethics and survival on a collision course.
... the tender, mentor-like bond between a human and a learning AI?
A Closed And Common Orbit by Becky Chambers
If what stayed with you was Auberson and HARLIE’s evolving trust, A Closed and Common Orbit focuses on Sidra (an AI in a new body) and Pepper, whose patience and guidance mirror that creator–creation care. Like HARLIE’s tentative steps toward identity beyond the lab’s expectations, Sidra’s journey is intimate, hopeful, and grounded in small, human choices.
... a small, character-first story that keeps the stakes personal even with big ideas?
The Lifecycle of Software Objects by Ted Chiang
If you appreciated how When HARLIE Was One keeps the focus on a few people wrestling with a thinking machine’s future, The Lifecycle of Software Objects follows Ana and others as they raise digital minds over years. The quiet crises—custody, upgrades, and the risk of ‘turning them off’—echo HARLIE’s boardroom threat, but with piercing empathy and clear-eyed insight.
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