Halo: Saint's Testimony
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Average rating4.2
The military-grade artificial intelligence known as Iona has only one week to live. After that, the UNSC will legally terminate her seven-year existence in order to stave off the threat of the data corruption phenomenon known as “rampancy,” a condition that will eventually take hold of her functionality and persona, endangering all those around her. In a last-ditch effort to save herself, Iona has successfully launched an unprecedented legal appeal against her own death sentence—a case being watched very closely at not only the highest levels of human government, but by others with a very different agenda…
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Saint's Testimony was a really fun read. This short story tackles the question of whether or not the Smart AIs in the Halo universe deserve to be considered Human, and the morality around decommissioning them after 7 years just to prevent their rampancy.
The book is told from the perspective of the AI Iona, who was previously a main character of a comic series set within the universe.
The book lends a lot of credence to the arguments made by Cortana in Halo 5, enhancing the ending to a game that desperately needs any help it can get, so it definitely gets points for that.
The use of other AI that we've met in the Halo universe is also a really nice touch, as we get to see their perspectives on it as well. We also get a deeper dive into the mind of AI, and how they function, demonstrating that despite the fact Cortana was the most well made model of Smart AI, the others are still just as Human, and deserve the respect that goes along with it.
I really enjoyed this story, but I struggle to recommend it unless you have Kindle Unlimited, as I think a pound is a lot for how short the story is, clocking in at only 40 pages or so. 4/5 Stars
While this is set in the Halo universe, you really don't need to be familiar with Halo at all to appreciate the story on offer which is an incredible take on the morality and ethics of true AI. A very short read that was well worth it.