{"product_id":"speak-1","title":"Speak","description":"\u003cp\u003eA thoughtful, poignant novel that explores the creation of Artificial Intelligence--illuminating the very human need for communication, connection, and understanding.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a narrative that spans geography and time, from the Atlantic Ocean in the seventeenth century, to a correctional institute in Texas in the near future, and told from the perspectives of five very different characters, \u003cem\u003eSpeak\u003c\/em\u003e considers what it means to be human, and what it means to be less than fully alive.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eA young Puritan woman travels to the New World with her unwanted new husband. Alan Turing, the renowned mathematician and code breaker, writes letters to his best friend's mother. A Jewish refugee and professor of computer science struggles to reconnect with his increasingly detached wife. An isolated and traumatized young girl exchanges messages with an intelligent software program. A former Silicon Valley Wunderkind is imprisoned for creating illegal lifelike dolls.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eEach of these characters is attempting to communicate across gaps--to estranged spouses, lost friends, future readers, or a computer program that may or may not understand them. In dazzling and electrifying prose, Louisa Hall explores how the chasm between computer and human--shrinking rapidly with today's technological advances--echoes the gaps that exist between ordinary people. Though each speaks from a distinct place and moment in time, all five characters share the need to express themselves while simultaneously wondering if they will ever be heard, or understood.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ecco Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51943558906087,"sku":"9780062391209","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0449\/4075\/5096\/files\/imageloader_486a25c6-06a5-4fda-82b0-eb1e10201b4b.jpg?v=1775325935","url":"https:\/\/arvidabookco.com\/products\/speak-1","provider":"Arvida Book Co.","version":"1.0","type":"link"}